GUWAHATI, Aug 14 - Guwahati city was today declared open-defection-free by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
The Corporation has now decided to slap penalty on citizens violating the cleanliness norms.
�After going through reports collected by the GMC councillors, area sabha members and also surveys conducted in school, colleges and different institutions, we have arrived at a decision to declare the municipal area of the city as open-defecation-free from now on,� Guwahati Mayor Mrigen Sarania said.
�A notification in this regard was published in newspapers on July 18 for opinions and feedback from different stakeholders. As we did not receive any objection, we have decided to move ahead with the initiative to ensure Guwahati�s place among the cleanest cities of India,� he added.
In order to improve cleanliness standards in cities, the Ministry of Urban Development started the Swachh Survekshan survey, by ranking cities on cleanliness and other aspects of urban sanitation. In order to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary, India has pledged to become open-defecation-free and clean by October 2, 2019.
The Corporation will also go to the extent of filing FIRs against citizens for not following cleanliness norms. �Despite regular warnings, some people still throw garbage into the drain and on the roadside. We will file police complaints in such cases,� the Mayor said.
Also, the GMC is going to nearly double the number of NGOs engaged in conservancy services in bigger wards of the city. From September onwards, 56 NGOs will look after the work of day-to-day garbage collection from the doorstep of every house. At present, 31 NGOs are engaged in conservancy for an equal number of municipal wards in the city.
