Published in Dwarka Express on 3.2.2024

The above line of Mahatma needs serious attention, as we remember Mahatma on Jan 30^th every year, the day on which the doyen of the non-violence movement laid down his life to violence. Prime Minister of India had rightly launched the Swachh Bharat mission was launched on the birth anniversary of Mahatma in 2014. After a decade, now it is good that we make an honest review of what happened and what not, in the swachhata sphere.

India’s Swachh Bharat Mission is the world’s largest sanitation initiative. Exactly after 5 years of its launch, the mission took another step to make India Open Defecation Free. The 2019-mission led to the construction of over 10 crore individual household toilets, and around 6 lakh villages declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF). The Government of India approved a total outlay of Rs. 1,40,881 crores in 2020 budget envisaging the sustainability of the ODF status and to cover the villages with Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). Biodegradable Waste Management has been put in place through composting and setting up of Biogas plants; collection, segregation, and storage facilities for plastic waste management, construction of soak pits, waste stabilization ponds, Decentralized Waste Water Treatment System for Greywater Management and Faecal Sludge Management through co-treatment in existing Sewage Treatment Plants/Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (STPs/ FSTPs). As per official reports, over 78 per cent of the villages have declared themselves ODF as on date. It is not out of place to mention here that Maharashtra bagged the top rank, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023.

Government statics aside, in reality, open defecation is going on even in urban areas. We cannot remain complacent in cleanliness front. We should call a spade a spade. As far as open defecation is concerned, nothing is spared, be it a lake, park, river bund, or a scrub jungle. It is a common sight to see a person carrying a water bottle to the empty neighbourhood to relieve him. The message is loud and clear. We need to go a long way in swacchata mission. Today when we travel in state highways or even on rural roads, it is a common sight that garbage is dumped everywhere. Corporations, Municipalities and Gram Panchayats fail to clear the trash. Our landfills are turning into hills and hillocks. Waste segregation, composting or recycling are not done completely. With ever-growing population and depleting amenities, it has become a challenge for the authorities. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” said Mahatma Gandhi, the visionary. his thoughts were farsighted, even when environmental awareness was not significant. Indian economy has grown multifold since then, but the ecology is being neglected to a large extent. Environment is undergoing onslaughts in one way or other. Yes, to put it differently, we are greedy to ensure that the basic needs of human beings are met religiously.