Nagpur: Expressing disappointment over the city's poor ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2017, citizens have come down heavily on the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for its failure in ensuring a clean Nagpur. It stands at 137th position of the 434 cities surveyed.Stating that Nagpur is no more a "clean and green city," most citizens blamed poor waste management, inefficient use of resources, lack of awareness and inefficiency of local authorities.Nagpur also plunged the scoresheet in implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan mobile app, for which experts pointed out finger at NMC."Encroachment by vendors here is comparatively higher than cities like Indore and Bhopal, which have bagged the top two spots. Gokulpeth, West High Court and other market areas like Buildi, Itwari and Mahal are crammed with hawkers and the number of beggars dominating the streets is rising rapidly," said Vijay Limaye, founder of Ecofriendly Living Foundation.According to the aspects considered, Nagpur has not fared well in solid waste treatment, and defecation which were given much weightage. Green Activist Surbhi Jaiswal said, "The work of waste management plant has almost come to a standstill with negligible productivity. The problem of public urinals still exists with only a few available."Many felt that even if public toilets are constructed, their maintenance becomes another challenge. Environmentalist Sulabha Chakravarty said water supply should be regularized at these urinals and its cleaning should be looked after too. Former Neeri director Tapan Chakraborty said, "To control the deplorable situation, the government should charge for its usage if need be, but force people to use them."Experts said if the government eyed disposal of sewage, the score would have been better. "We hold the place in the top 100 smart cities, so we should have been in the same position in this list too. Practical solution looking at the present situations are the need of the hour," said Prakash Urade, retired NMC chief engineer."Merely campaigns will not make a difference. Reaching the ground level of problems in essential. NGOs in city are actively working and have come up with good proposals, but NMC has been skirting them," Chakravarty added.Student and nature lover Vibhay Kumar relates the problem with laidback attitude of youth. He said, "They don't even follow simple steps for cleanliness and lack basic knowledge about solid as well as wet waste. Spitting on the walls, roads and building has become perpetual.""The entire system is collapsing due to political pressure. According to Kanak contract, the garbage man should charge money to consumers but elected representatives don't allow this to secure their vote bank. The contract also asks to collect only segregated waste from doorstep, which is very rare in reality," said Anu Chhabrani, president of Swachh Association.Limaye said cities with severe penalizing policies against littering public places are in a better place than Nagpur. He said, "Strict laws can be very supportive for spreading awareness. Just like sensitization about wearing helmets was carried out with hefty fines, similar pattern should be followed for cleanliness."

Stay updated with all the Latest Nagpur headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.