Monday Musing
[ M Doley ]
Itanagar township looks much better-maintained these days with cleaner roads and footpaths, thanks to the new IMC team. With household waste gone from roadsides and unauthorised posters and banners mostly removed, the township now wears a new look.
Footpaths are cleaner and more orderly than ever before, giving more space to pedestrians after unauthorised roadside vegetable sellers, paan shops and food vendors were evicted. The corners of the roads, where garbage used to be dumped and men used to urinate, emit no foul odour anymore.
It is encouraging to see IMC workers clearing roadside weeds and creepers, sweeping and removing accumulated sand and soil from roads. Residents, who previously dumped garbage on the roadside, are seen cooperating with the IMC in keeping the township clean by throwing household waste into garbage collecting trucks.
However, one area that the authorities often overlook is the broken or uncovered footpaths and haphazard vehicle parking in some busy areas. Vehicles parked on footpaths not only block pedestrians’ movement but also prematurely damage the infrastructure.
The Swachh Survekshan 2026 prioritises dumpsite remediation, door-to-door waste collection, source segregation, waste processing, and citizens’ feedback to make the country completely garbage free.
Arunachal Pradesh has made some significant achievements in waste collection, segregation, dump site remediation and legacy wastes.
According to data made available in the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban portal, Arunachal has achieved 99 per cent door-to-door collection as compared to the national average of 97 per cent – an achievement never made before. The state also achieved 96 per cent source segregation, and has also become free from legacy wastes and zero dumpsites, the data said.
The data showed that around 131 tonnes of solid waste is generated every day in the state, of which 50 tonnes are processed, with a processing rate of 38 percent.
The state currently has seven material recovery facilities with a designated capacity of 35 tonne per day each, and one waste-to-compost plant with a capacity of five tonne per day. There are 85 public toilets, 24 community toilets, and no urinals in 35 cities/towns in the state.
For liquid waste treatment, the state has no sewage treatment plant as of now, and it has two faecal sludge treatment plants.
The ministry in a state review meeting on SBM-U progress held last month sought genuine public feedback. The ministry also stressed on strong political ownership, particularly among chief ministers and elected representatives to push the implementation of SBM-U 2.0 and achieve its goals, especially with the new Solid Waste Management Rules coming into force from 1 April this year.
Developing good civic sense among residents, maintaining zero tolerance for littering, and citizens’ cooperation at every level are keys to achieving the goal of the mission.