Why Mumbai has no chance to become the cleanest city in India

Nearly three months after Mumbai failed to make the cut to the top 25 clean cities in the Swachh Bharat rankings, the BMC has made zero efforts to salvage itself from the embarrassing distinction. If anything, the civic body's solid waste management (SWM) department appears to be digging a deeper garbage grave for itself. For the last few months, trash has been piling up outside its F/North ward office under Wadala bridge.

This particular SWM chowky is responsible for collecting garbage from Wadala, Sion and Chunabhatti. According to residents, dumpsters filled with garbage have been lying unattended at the spot for months.

Residents claim that garbage has been lying unattended at the spot for months. Pic/Shadab Khan

Raj Vijay Upadhyay, a businessman, who passes by the road every day, said, "I have always seen garbage at this place."
"Apart from the collected garbage that is piling on day after day, there are discarded dumpsters at this spot too," Upadhyay added.

Vishal Dongerkery and Raj Vijay Upadhyay

Another local, Vishal Dongerkery, also claimed that the spot has never been garbage-free and has become a breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes. "It's the BMC's job to collect garbage from the entire ward and unload it at a dump yard, not on the road. This is irresponsible behaviour, especially when the civic body goes around issuing notices to residents for poor waste management," he said.

Sagar Kadam, a labour officer at the chowky, said that the garbage strewn outside the office was just a few days old. "We are short-staffed and hence, could not clean the place this week. We will clear it today," he said.

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