Bengaluru skids on its waste heap, down in Centre’s Swachh ranking

BENGALURU: Demands for fixing Bengaluru’s civic administration structure have come back after India’s tech capital fell by 20 slots in the Centre’s Swachh Survekshan — a cleanliness survey — the results of which were announced last week. Among the 4,242 towns and cities assessed, Bengaluru now stands at 214th position, gradually slipping year after year.
Aarin Capital cofounder TV Mohandas Pai was hardly surprised by the development as he blamed the city’s slip to the broken governance system. “It is time the government split the city into multiple municipal corporations and fixed a five-year term for the mayor.” The ranking across parameters, he said, would fall as long as one municipal body tries to manage a massive city spread across 800 sq km and with a population of about 11 million. “There is inadequate focus on keeping the city clean or to create good roads.”

Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw felt the slide was shameful although it may not hurt businesses or investments in near future. “This is not a good trend. We must be ashamed of it.”

While cleanliness is one of the areas that cry for attention, the government should step up its focus on the city’s overall infrastructure issues too, say industry representatives.

“Disorganised traffic, air pollution and frequent digging of roads are all contributing to the problem. It is unfortunate that we are not faring well in livability criteria despite having excellent weather,” said Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chairman at Toyota Kirloskar Motor. “The falling ranking is a disappointing trend.”

A better ranking and living conditions, industry executives say, will attract higher investments. “Public health is a critical aspect for people to choose the city to live in. The BBMP has stuck to the same way of handling waste for over 15 years now. It lacks the willingness to adopt new technology and methodology,” said Kishore Jain, president at Credai Bengaluru, a real estate lobby group.

The BBMP, however, has maintained it is not fair to compare Bengaluru with major cities while measuring the cleanliness. “Cities like Mumbai and Delhi are divided into multiple corporations unlike Bengaluru which is one huge entity,” said Sarfaraz Khan, BBMP joint commissioner overseeing solid waste management initiatives.

Of the four parameters, he said, the city performed badly in citizen feedback. “We lost an entire 400 points reserved for information communication materials to be displayed through hoardings and posters. Since the BBMP has banned advertisement hoardings, we were helpless,” Khan said.