Ahead of municipal polls, Delhi Congress on Sunday came out with a detailed roadmap to make Delhi the “cleanest and most beautiful” city in the world. It releases a draft “Clean Delhi, Breathe Delhi” to revive sanitation situation.
This is the second draft plan unveiled within a month. The draft was released by former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken as the party is eyeing on a comeback in the civic elections after severe drubbing in the last Delhi Assembly elections.
Senior party leader and former environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said, “The roadmap will remain a mere dream if the three municipal corporations do not become financially self-sufficient in two years.”
“When he raised the slogan “Pehle Shauchalaya Phir Devalaya” he was “mocked”, but now the Modi Government is also aiming to make the country open defecation free,” he said.
The four landfill sites in the city, where 40 per cent of 9,000 metric ton solid waste is dumped every day, are the “most dangerous” places in the national Capital in terms of health, particularly for children, Ramesh said.
“If the party wins the civic polls, it will make the municipal corporations self-reliant in two years and develop Delhi as the cleanest and most beautiful city in the world,” Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said.
Maken further said that the Congress party’s roadmap for Solid Waste Management is intended to address the problem of the three MCDs across Delhi.
Referring Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) report, the North MCD produces 4,200 tonnes, South MCD produces 2,850 tonnes and the East MCD produces 2,200 tonnes of garbage daily. Of this, more than 40% of garbage remains untreated and is dumped in overflowing landfills at Narela-Bawana, Bhalaswa, Okhla and Ghazipur. He said these landfills pose both long-term and poses immediate safety risks to local residents, particularly children. The poor waste management has also led to significant disease outbreak in Delhi in the last few years,” he said.
Criticising both the BJP and the AAP, he said over 60,000 sanitation workers in Delhi were not paid salaries on time even as the ruling BJP at the Centre is promoting ‘Swachhch Bharat’.
The blue print to make Delhi a “fully sanitised city” is based on decentralisation of solid waste management, enhanced public awareness and to incentivise sanitation initiatives through property tax rebates and additional FAR (floor area ratio), Maken said.
The Delhi Congress chief blamed the Centre and the Delhi Government for poor condition of sanitation in the national Capital.
“Prime Minister’s Swachhch Bharat Mission is being mocked the most in the city where he lives. Also, sanitation workers in Delhi were forced to go on strikes five times in last two years over non-payment of salaries even though the ruling AAP’s poll symbol is a broom,” he said.
The first draft plan was released earlier this month by former Finance Minister P Chidamabaram and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia to revive the financial condition of the three municipal corporations within two years if voted to power.
The first draft blueprint also envisages Rs 2,000 crore annual fund for development of infrastructure-deficit areas, particularly the unauthorised colonies. The former Finance Minister said unlike other big corporations, which generate more than 50 per cent of the revenue from property tax collection, the MCD is doing just about 40 per cent.