Clean sweep of Swachh bins in Nurpur

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, March 22

Around 1,000 dustbins installed under the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ in Nurpur town and rural areas of the Nurpur development block in 2018 have been stolen or damaged. The blue and green plastic dustbins, meant to dispose of dry and wet waste, cost around Rs 900 each. They had been placed in markets, government schools, panchayat bhawans, residential areas, bus stops and community halls as part of the campaign to clean up the town and its surroundings.

Area grapples with litter

• The blue and green plastic dustbins, for collecting dry and wet waste and costing around Rs 900 each, were placed near markets, government schools, panchayat bhawans, residential areas and community halls to keep the district litter-free
• The dustbins were supplied by the Union Government and were distributed to urban civic bodies and panchayats by MPs, MLAs and ministers in the state
• In the absence of the proper upkeep, 90 per cent of the bins, along with their steel platforms, were stolen within two years of their installation and now none of the installed bins can be seen anywhere in the area

These dustbins were supplied by the Union Government and were distributed to urban civic bodies and panchayats during special functions organised by MPs, MLAs and ministers in the state.

However, within three years, these have disappeared from public places and now there were no dustbins anywhere in the area. The pradhans of neighbouring gram panchayats said the colour-coded dustbins were given to them by MLAs and MPs for installation at public places and the bins had been named after the local MLA or MP.

“Due to official bottlenecks, no responsibility of the panchayats or block development officers (BDOs) was fixed for their upkeep and maintenance. Besides, there was no provision to empty these bins,” said a pradhan. “Therefore, after the bins were filled with garbage, they turned into a health hazard. As the bins were directly given by the MLAs and the MPs to the panchayats, no entry was made in the stock registers of the panchayats.”

In the absence of proper upkeep, 90 per cent of the bins, along with their steel platforms, were stolen within two years of their installation.

The previous BJP government failed to take any steps either for the maintenance of the bins or act against rag-pickers who were selling the waste material.

The matter was never reported to the police. The BDOs of the region had no role in the distribution or installation of these bins and there were no guidelines from the state government for their maintenance, repair or protection.

Enquiries revealed that thousands of such dustbins installed in other parts of the hill state under the Central Government-sponsored ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ during the rule of the previous government had met the same fate.

The public exchequer’s funds to the tune of crores of rupees spent on procuring these bins have gone down the drain. “This shows that the state government and the authorities did not act in a responsible manner and were not serious,” said a village pradhan.

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