The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2nd October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi, where he himself cleaned the road was a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and to inculcate a habit to adopt cleanliness all around. The drive became a biggest with three million government employees, school and college students taking part in it. It is almost going to be two years the campaign came to people for cleaning every nook and corner. But when one looks back Jammu has not changed a bit let there be any number of Swachch Abhiyan which gave the people the luxury of picking up a broom for only a photo op to make city clean. With the burning of waste in the open the quality of air in Jammu is the worst at any time of the day and night. 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 increase in air pollution has given rise to number of diseases especially among the infants like bronchitis, asthma, allergies of skin etc. The elders too are finding it difficult. The worrisome is the exposure of children to the life threatening existence. It is not that the crisis cannot be managed but stringent steps are needed at every stage. There is an urgent need to improve air quality for the coming generation by cutting down emission levels. On the other hand Karnataka ranked high on the Swachh Bharat list of 476 cities, with four in the top 10. Bengaluru, adjacent to Mysuru, leads the list of capitals and is seventh in the overall list and Mysuru, the City of Palaces, has won a new distinction but City of Temple remains nowhere in the list of cities with open defecation and solid waste management remaining a far cry.
