Truth Behind Cleanliness

Nearly 11 years have passed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious national sanitation programme – Swachh Bharat Mission – on October 2, 2014, in an attempt to make cleanliness a national priority and improve sanitation across India. Upon completion of its first phase in 2019, the government of India decided to continue the programme by announcing Phase 2, targeting both rural and urban areas to eradicate open defecation and address waste management issues. As part of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), the annual fortnight-long campaign Swachhta Hi Seva, or Cleanliness is Service, has been reignited. So, various government departments, municipalities, district administrations and government offices across the state are expected to conduct cleanliness drives over the next few days, until the campaign culminates on Gandhi Jayanti. While every effort towards a more hygienic environment is worth appreciating, we should also ask if it has brought about behavioural change on sanitation among the citizens. Some may term it as a game changer for public health, while others see it as a scam and a "one-time show". In Dimapur and Kohima, the cleanliness drive remains a one-day event, lacking a concrete redressal system. On one hand, the door-to-door waste collection initiative has proved futile in addressing the waste issue, as citizens continue to litter the streets and dispose of garbage at unauthorised dumping sites. On the other hand, the concerned authorities have failed to come up with a sustainable waste management plan. And the Swachh Bharat Mission has failed to pull these two of Nagaland's major urban centres out of the list of India’s dirtiest cities announced by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs based on Swachh Survekshan 2020.

When it comes to waste management, the less said the better. The state apparently doesn’t have even a single functional sewage treatment plant, forcing urban authorities to dispose of waste in open spaces without proper segregation. This has sparked public outrage and led to legal battles. For instance, the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) has been pulled up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on several occasions over its failure to relocate the dumping site at Sunrise Colony, Burma Camp, due to concerns over public health and environmental hazards. The NGT has once again instructed the authorities to submit compliance affidavits within four weeks, with the matter set for further consideration on November 11. This paints a grim picture of waste management in the urban areas of the state. This also highlights the necessity for the government to expand the Swachh Bharat Mission beyond merely cleaning the surroundings to include sustainable waste management by setting up sewage treatment plants. The Swachhta Hi Seva campaign can transform public hea