<p>It’s known as the diamond city or silk city of India and one of the fastest growing cities in the entire country. But less than two decades back, Surat had been struck by one of the worst epidemics. The plague which paralysed the city in 1994 had given the city the infamy and it came to be known as one of the `dirtiest’ in the country. But that is history. Today, Surat is one of the cleanest and well planned cities of Gujarat.<br /><br /></p>.<p>And perhaps the plague of ‘94 had shaken the city managers and made them realise that if they do not act in time, there would be no return. And leading from the front was the then municipal commissioner, S R Rao, who with his team of officials pulled a dramatic turnaround.<br /><br />The Health Department and the city municipal corporation together had undertaken a number of measures. It launched ‘public health mapping’ program for strengthening the health infrastructure and revival of work ethics among health workers. Group 'Safai', including brushing and scraping of public places was done. "The first thing we started after the plague outbreak was night cleaning and brushing of the roads and all the litter spots," said Mayor of the city Rajendra Desai.<br /><br />“It is the micro-level work of cleaning that has paid dividends. We have designed 15-17 sanitation wards per zone and a sanitation wing that has workers who help in carrying out cleaning and disposal work,” he adds.<br /><br />The city with 326.515 sq km area has 28.77 lakh population, the second largest in Gujarat after Ahmedabad.<br /><br />``SMC spends around Rs 45 crore annually to keep Surat clean. Over 300 vehicles go door-to-door and collect about 750 tonnes of waste daily,’’ said Desai. SMC started a public participation scheme to incentivise the residents. In the last three years, about 600 societies joined and are paid nearly Rs 1.5 crore by the civic body, pointed out Desai.<br /><br />He said for collection of commercial garbage, the morning timings were inconvenient. Hence the collection of garbage from these places had been shifted to the second shift between 5 pm to 11 pm. ers, Biomedical waste and industrial waste disposal is also carried out by private agencies, separately, said Desai.</p>
<p>It’s known as the diamond city or silk city of India and one of the fastest growing cities in the entire country. But less than two decades back, Surat had been struck by one of the worst epidemics. The plague which paralysed the city in 1994 had given the city the infamy and it came to be known as one of the `dirtiest’ in the country. But that is history. Today, Surat is one of the cleanest and well planned cities of Gujarat.<br /><br /></p>.<p>And perhaps the plague of ‘94 had shaken the city managers and made them realise that if they do not act in time, there would be no return. And leading from the front was the then municipal commissioner, S R Rao, who with his team of officials pulled a dramatic turnaround.<br /><br />The Health Department and the city municipal corporation together had undertaken a number of measures. It launched ‘public health mapping’ program for strengthening the health infrastructure and revival of work ethics among health workers. Group 'Safai', including brushing and scraping of public places was done. "The first thing we started after the plague outbreak was night cleaning and brushing of the roads and all the litter spots," said Mayor of the city Rajendra Desai.<br /><br />“It is the micro-level work of cleaning that has paid dividends. We have designed 15-17 sanitation wards per zone and a sanitation wing that has workers who help in carrying out cleaning and disposal work,” he adds.<br /><br />The city with 326.515 sq km area has 28.77 lakh population, the second largest in Gujarat after Ahmedabad.<br /><br />``SMC spends around Rs 45 crore annually to keep Surat clean. Over 300 vehicles go door-to-door and collect about 750 tonnes of waste daily,’’ said Desai. SMC started a public participation scheme to incentivise the residents. In the last three years, about 600 societies joined and are paid nearly Rs 1.5 crore by the civic body, pointed out Desai.<br /><br />He said for collection of commercial garbage, the morning timings were inconvenient. Hence the collection of garbage from these places had been shifted to the second shift between 5 pm to 11 pm. ers, Biomedical waste and industrial waste disposal is also carried out by private agencies, separately, said Desai.</p>
