The traditional 2nd October, which is marked as Gandhi Jayanti was dedicated to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to make cities and surroundings clean. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on 2nd October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi, launched the scheme by cleaning the road as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and to inculcate a habit to adopt cleanliness all around. Jammu too observed the day and it is just a week but nothing has changed a bit. Garbage and dirt is strewn everywhere and let there be any number of Swachch Abhiyan which gave the people the luxury of picking up a broom for a photo ops to make city clean, the basic mentality of the people has not changed a bit. Any wall is a reliving point for men, waste is burned in the open with a typical stink that remains and it is common to see people walk past by covering their face and nose. Some relief is when there is a Bandh or Chakka jam when most of the commercial vehicles are off the road and traffic remains at low level. The elders too are finding it difficult. The worrisome is the exposure of children to the life threatening existence. The cleanliness drive has taken wings and the $1 billion ambitious Swachh Bharat Rural Sanitation Project in India has been adopted from a similar successful programme of Egypt by the World Bank as part of sharing of global best practices. It is not that the crisis cannot be managed but stringent steps are needed at every stage and not the annual ritual on 2nd October. There is an urgent need to improve the surroundings and bring down the air emission levels.
