Gonda town
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Swachh Survekshan
2017: 434th rank
Shailvee Sharda, FILTHIEST - Gonda is real-life `dirty picture', May 5, 2017: The Times of India
Gonda comes as a filthy shock to anyone who takes the smooth NH30 to visit one of UP's most backward districts.
Heaps of reeking garbage welcome one at the bus station while the drains of Avas Vikas Colony are choked with plastic. Garbage-filled ponds breeding insects can be seen in many parts of the main town because residents don't think twice about throwing domestic garbage anywhere they please.
Small wonder the place is at the bottom of the Swachh Survekshan 2017 rankings released.
Though district magistrate Ashutosh Niranjan claims “Gonda is not as dirty as suggested by the survey“, cleanliness, it seems, has drowned in the vicious cycle of garbage disposal.
To begin with, there is no landfill site and the authorities don't have the money to buy the two hectares of land required for a garbage-disposal site.Second, there are no garbage houses in the town area, nor public dustbins.And three, house-to-house garbage collection takes place in just two localities. As a result, people dispose of plastic bags filled with refuse when and where convenient. Though officials claim garbage is regularly collected, many places in the city , their drains choked with plastic, tell a different story. The authorities say a proposal for a sewage system in Gonda was sent to the UP Jal Nigam three years ago. “Clearance is awaited,“ says Niranjan. Ruchi Modi, a lawyer who lives near the station road, said, “I have never seen `safai' workers in my area. In fact, I got to know that the safai worker in charge of our ward had sublet the duty to someone else.“
Gonda scored poorly on all three fronts -garbage management, citizen feedback and inspections by surveyors.While the municipal body managed just 56 points out of 900 for garbage management, citizen feedback at 192 out of 600 was only slightly better.
Locals feel the municipal body is still four decades behind. Take the example of Jankinagar, a revenue village, but part of the city. “The city has grown and there is a need to add more areas to the municipal board,“ said Umesh Yadav, chief medical officer, Gonda, adding that the city has always been at risk of an outbreak of infectious diseases.But the authorities say they cannot go ahead with the reorganisation of the “nagar palika“ due to pending local body elections.
