Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has failed in Mangaluru: Ex-MLA J R Lobo

Former MLA J R Lobo has alleged that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan had failed completely with the failure to implement door-to-door waste collection effectively in Mangaluru.

"The sanitation in the city has reached its worst situation with heaps of garbage piling up beside the roads in various wards coming under Mangaluru City Corporation jurisdiction. The door-to-door waste collection has failed to collect garbage from households daily. There are instances of trash being collected from households once in two to three days," he told mediapersons on Friday.

Failure on the part of the civic body in making alternative arrangements for the collection of wet waste on Friday has aggravated the situation. The MCC had made arrangements to collect dry waste every Friday. However, no wet waste is collected on the day. As a result, people have started dumping the trash on the road with the stray dogs feasting on it, he added.

The BJP which came to power in the Council of Mangaluru City Corporation has failed to solve the problems faced by the people. Though officials cite shortage of funds to pay the private firms engaged in door-to-door waste collection, the former MLA said the shortage of funds will not arise if the solid waste management cess are collected properly.

“On an average, Rs one crore cess can be collected in a month from households while a sum of Rs five crore can be collected from commercial establishments as cess,” he added.

Further, he urged the officials to visit the cities that have been rated as five star by the central government and adopt their best practices. There is a need to learn how these five-star-rated cities are effectively implementing solid waste management in apartments.