GUWAHATI, Aug 24 - Expressing its concern at Guwahati�s poor performance in the Swachh Survekshan 2020 conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, NGO Save Guwahati Build Guwahati (SGBG) has urged the people of Guwahati to take a lesson from smaller towns, where common people take initiatives to keep their surroundings clean.
Out of the 382 cities in the main category of the cleanliness survey, the position of Guwahati has slipped to 356 this year from 303 in 2019.
�All our tall claims of projecting Guwahati as the gateway to the North East and making it a hub for business activities and a tourism hotspot will fall flat if the city continues to be at the bottom of the cleanliness scale. Though the Guwahati Municipal Corporation and GMDA have a lot to do in this regard, the Guwahatians cannot shirk their responsibility, so far as performing their civic duties is concerned,� SGBG president Krishno K Barooah stated.
�Here, I would like to highlight a small town Jiribam in Manipur, which is one of the cleanest and fastest growing towns of the North East. The people of Jiribam take the initiative to keep their town clean by extending a helping hand to the town committee. The chairman, the councillors, the executive officer and the sanitary workers jointly work in close coordination with the local people to keep the town clean. Our councillors hardly take any initiative to involve the conscious citizens in such initiatives,� he added.
The NGO also rapped the civic authorities as well as the district administration for doing only superficial beautification of the city ahead of some major events.
It stressed the need for a scientific plan to address the underlying causes of the civic problems of Guwahati including faulty sewerage, ineffective garbage disposal, extensive use of plastic and overall haphazard development.
�A few roads are painted and some flower pots are placed at random locations ahead of visits by dignitaries as part of some quick-fix measures. This shows the apathetic attitude of the authorities towards this most beautiful and historic city of ours,� the NGO lamented.
The SGBG has asked the common people to take a lesson from Swachh Survekshan in which Jorhat, Tezpur and some other towns of the State have done Assam proud. It has urged the citizens to realise their civic responsibilities, follow cleanliness protocol for the health and beauty of the city, and also to pressurise the authorities to take proper steps for development of Guwahati.
The NGO has also urged the district administration to ban use of plastic carry-bags with immediate effect.
