Bangaloreans are rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Their city recently aced Swacch rankings - it has been adjudged 'cleanest' among state capitals in the country and has an all-India ranking of seven. However these impressive rankings drew more incredulous guffaws than elation.
A small minority did post 'congrats Bangalore' or 'proud to be Bangalorean' messages on social networking sites and for the Siddaramaiah Government this news must be a source of some comfort, as the city would soon have civic polls and the government's report card had more black marks than potholes on city roads. But for the majority of Namma Bengaluru residents it was as if they have been told that driving through Silk Board junction or K R Puram signal was as easy as a stroll in the Cubbon park.
Some felt this might be some silly mistake (maybe Bangalore is actually at the bottom of heap and misconstrued as being on top) or the survey has been totally manipulated. While others wondered if a city like Bangalore has earned such a distinction then what kind of hell holes other state capitals and cities in the country may be. The latter seems more plausible as the study was done to check on open defecation and solid waste management in municipal areas. They also assessed the drinking water quality, waste water management and the status of disposal of sewage from septic tanks.
Using the above markers the fact remains that even in the toniest neighbourhoods in Bangalore one is never away from heaps of garbage, at various stages of putrefaction, with dogs, crows and cows rummaging through it. Those carrying out the assessment either failed to see all this or they had little choice - other cities had even more hideous underbellies, notwithstanding toxic foaming lakes of Bellandur and Yemalur.
However what surprised me was that Hyderabad figured way down (ranked 275) the list, among some of the cow-belt towns synonymous with filth and squalour, which also ensure that our social indicators remain rooted to sub-Saharan levels. The city was the darling of most coffee table conversation in Bangalore. Whenever the topic of Bangalore's nightmarish traffic or poor infrastructure crops up, Hyderabad is often cited as an example Bangalore could follow.
Lastly the ugly fact remains that all the cities in our country are way too filthy, thanks to our poor civic sense, runaway population growth and long standing mismanagement by our city fathers.
Many cities in the world, most notably Singapore, which were filthier than ours few decade ago have metamorphosed into neat futuristic places, almost on par with European and North American cities. Whereas our cities seem to be regressing further and inspire little hope. They often figure prominently in surveys such as 'world's most polluted cities' and similar dubious distinctions.
Also Read: Random Jottings
A small minority did post 'congrats Bangalore' or 'proud to be Bangalorean' messages on social networking sites and for the Siddaramaiah Government this news must be a source of some comfort, as the city would soon have civic polls and the government's report card had more black marks than potholes on city roads. But for the majority of Namma Bengaluru residents it was as if they have been told that driving through Silk Board junction or K R Puram signal was as easy as a stroll in the Cubbon park.
Some felt this might be some silly mistake (maybe Bangalore is actually at the bottom of heap and misconstrued as being on top) or the survey has been totally manipulated. While others wondered if a city like Bangalore has earned such a distinction then what kind of hell holes other state capitals and cities in the country may be. The latter seems more plausible as the study was done to check on open defecation and solid waste management in municipal areas. They also assessed the drinking water quality, waste water management and the status of disposal of sewage from septic tanks.
Using the above markers the fact remains that even in the toniest neighbourhoods in Bangalore one is never away from heaps of garbage, at various stages of putrefaction, with dogs, crows and cows rummaging through it. Those carrying out the assessment either failed to see all this or they had little choice - other cities had even more hideous underbellies, notwithstanding toxic foaming lakes of Bellandur and Yemalur.
However what surprised me was that Hyderabad figured way down (ranked 275) the list, among some of the cow-belt towns synonymous with filth and squalour, which also ensure that our social indicators remain rooted to sub-Saharan levels. The city was the darling of most coffee table conversation in Bangalore. Whenever the topic of Bangalore's nightmarish traffic or poor infrastructure crops up, Hyderabad is often cited as an example Bangalore could follow.
Lastly the ugly fact remains that all the cities in our country are way too filthy, thanks to our poor civic sense, runaway population growth and long standing mismanagement by our city fathers.
Many cities in the world, most notably Singapore, which were filthier than ours few decade ago have metamorphosed into neat futuristic places, almost on par with European and North American cities. Whereas our cities seem to be regressing further and inspire little hope. They often figure prominently in surveys such as 'world's most polluted cities' and similar dubious distinctions.
Also Read: Random Jottings
