“Ward Talks” held by Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) on 7th January held at Smriti Sangha in Swahid Nagar of Ward 22 received a very warm and overwhelming response from the residents of Bijoy Nagar, Noonmati refinary and even the hills in the Swahid Nagar. The discussion was chaired by the ward councillor Rajen Das, Area Sabha Member Manoj Kumar Nath, GMC assistant engineers Cittaranjan Dutta and Sankar medhi, and GMC sanitation supervisor Sanjay Malakar. Representatives of several development committees were also present during the event.
During the discussion, GMC emphasised on the importance and relevance of proper waste segregation (wet waste and dry waste). It was mentioned that Wet waste would be collected everyday and Dry waste would be collected on Tuesdays and Fridays by the Corporation. GMC also encouraged the residents to download the Swacchata App onto their smartphones which would enable them to capture and upload pictures of improper collection of garbage and issues directly onto the Swachhata App, GMC also urged every resident to actively participate in the upcoming Swachh Survekshan 2018 and create a better and cleaner Guwahati.
Swacch Sarvekshan is a survey initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to rank the cities of India on the basis of sanitation and cleanliness facilities. More than 8000 cities are participating in this survey.
On the opening notes, Chittaranjan Dutta lauded G Plus for assisting in organising the Ward Talks and spoke about how the residents can help Guwahati to win the competition.
“The GMC is providing every kind of assistance with its limited resources. We lack in ample man power and resources; but not in grit. We are intent on making Guwahati the cleanest city and it won’t be possible without the active participation and cooperation of the people here,” Dutta told the thronging crowd that accumulated at Smriti Sangha battling the shivering winter this morning.
Explaining about segregation of waste, Sankar Medhi said, "There are two types of waste - wet and dry. While wet waste consists of Organic wastes such as rice, vegetables etc., dry waste consists of plastic bags, bottles etc. Wet waste goes into the blue dustbin and dry waste goes into the green bin. This is called waste segregation." "The city is facing dearth of dumping grounds and hence, by segregation, we can utilise wet waste to make manure and recycle the dry waste," Medhi added.
Both the engineers also encouraged the people to download the Swachhata app and upload pictures of dirty areas so that GMC can act on the complaints within 12 hours.
While the discussion was a platform for the GMC to create awareness amongst the people about the different cleanliness drives, it also gave the residents the opportunity to share their grievances with the concerned officials.
A member of the Swahid Nagar Unnayan Committee, a civil society active said, "The basic problem of this region is lack of drainage and horrible road conditions. Due to lack of drainage, storm water carrying waste and soil from the hills flow down and makes the entire area dirty. Also, due to bad roads, the GMC garbage picking vehicles cannot reach door to door. If these issues are taken care of, rest cleanliness can be imparted among the people through rigorous awareness drives."
Krishna Deka, one of the participant of the discussion forum mentioned, “Despite having a bazar in one kilometer vicinity, there are several road side vegetable, fish and meat sellers put their stalls in the side of the road. And they get encouraged because the people here don’t want to go far and buy. These sellers dump the wastes on the road itself. Several people too dump their solid wastes on the drains that block the free flow,”
Manoj Kumar Nath, the Area Sabha Member who also runs the NGO cleaning the particular area, delved into the dignity of the cleaning workers and their functions.
"These cleaning workers are the architects of a cleaner Guwahati and they should be treated with respect," Malakar said. In the coming days, we will go from house to house and encourage people to segregate waste."
Rajen Das said that he is duty bound to serve the 35,000 residents of his ward.
"I have brought lot of developmental works and will thrive to do the same in the coming days. A total of Rs 4 crore has been spent for developments in this ward over the last three years," Das said. He also announced three other projects namely 3.5 lakh worth guard walls along the hills of Swahid Nagar to prevent erosion, 2 lakh worth stairs to a Kali Mandir atop the hill and a public deep tubewell for the residents there.
About Ward Talks:
In its continued initiative to provide a platform for the citizens of Guwahati to express their problems and a medium to connect them with the administration, Guwahati’s premier English weekly, G Plus, has been featuring a column called “Ward Watch” since its inception. To further supplement the purpose of the column – which is to initiate some tangible improvements in the city starting with the micro-level of the ward - the media house had been mulling with a concept whereby the people of a particular ward and the representatives of the Ward Unnayan Samitee could be brought together onto a common platform along with the authorities from various government departments like GMC, GMDA, Police, etc. for interaction and exchange of ideas. G Plus thus floated the concept of ‘Ward Talks’ and carried out the fifth phase of the initiative on 25th March.
(If you have a minute, please take out the time to fillout this Survey that can help Guwahati become a cleaner city! Take part in the Swachha Survekshan 2018 survey!)
