Despite Swachh Bharat, J&K's cleanliness goals confined to papers

On October 2, various campaigns under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are organised in the country, including the Union Territory of Jammu-Kashmir. However, even after organising the cleanliness programs on the day, the ground situation paints a different picture. Even though sanitation programs and awareness campaigns are being run at the government level for awareness about the importance of a clean environment, government departments seem to have shown a lack of seriousness in their implementation.

Anantnag (Jammu-Kashmir): On October 2, various campaigns under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are organised in the country, including the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Several such programs have been conducted in the preceding years in the Valley. The ground reality, however, paints a different picture.

In order to achieve an Open Defecation Free (ODF) and a clean India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Under the mission, all villages, gram panchayats, districts, states and Union Territories in India had to declare themselves ODF by 2 October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by constructing over 100 million toilets in rural India.

The aim of the Abhiyan was also to improve solid waste management. In this regard, garbage dumping sites were set up by the municipal authorities in various parts of Kashmir. However, the implementation of this ambitious mission turned out to be a damp squib as several vantage points in the cities and towns, and around the reservoirs, were turned into dumping sites. The public, too, toed the line of the administration, thus effectively making the mission a failure. This is particularly true of Anantnag as streets, alleys and streams are often seen loaded with garbage.

In the last seven years, the performance of government departments in the field of sanitation has been limited to only conducting programs. The effective implementation of these programs on the ground is still a distant reality.

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For example, polythene (plastic) continues to be used unabated in the Valley despite the government ordering a complete ban. This has been taking a severe toll on the pristine water resources, fertile lands and the natural beauty of the Valley.

To curb open defecation, the government had set a target of constructing toilets in all households in the country by 2019. Two years on, several areas in the Valley are deprived of this basic amenity, forcing the locals to relieve themselves in the open.