This
article was first published in the Times of India, January 07, 2017; Co-author-
Kavil Ramachandran
Hyderabad has come a long way from being a city marred with
communal riots, dust and dirt. The transformation really began around the
mid-1980s when Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) served as the Chief Minister of
the state of Andhra Pradesh (the pre 2014 combined State of Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana). NTR put an end to the communal riots and undertook initiatives for
the image makeover of the city. Notable amongst them was the beautification of
the Tank Bund area. By the early 1990s, the effects of the initiatives were
visible.
N. Chandrababu Naidu’s government from the year 1995 to 2004
worked towards making Hyderabad a ‘world class’ city. One of the initiatives to
achieve this objective was to ‘clean up’ the city. Various policies,
regulations and investments were made to broaden the roads, ramp up the
infrastructure, attract educational institutions, develop parks and green areas
and focus on sanitation and cleanliness.
Privatisation of Municipal services, viz., sweeping and
garbage collection, was one of the steps taken to ensure timely collection of
garbage. Initially only 10 percent of the city was covered by the private
contractors. Slowly the percent increased to cover majority of the city, with
MCH covering the balance.
In 1999, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) became
the first corporation in the country to adopt a unique “Unit System” to
privatize the sweeping and garbage collection services. The entire city was
divided into units of approximately 8kms stretch. These units were then
allotted to pre-qualified contractors. This arrangement has resulted in
significant cost savings for the MCH (Now GHMC- Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation). Resident welfare associations (RWAs) were also involved by
introducing a voluntary garbage disposal scheme, wherein, the MCH provided
three wheeled auto rickshaws to RWAs for the collection of door to door
garbage. The entry of the private sector visibly improved the cleanliness
levels in the city.
The current Government of Telangana, led by Kalvakuntla
Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), has been taking steps to take the city of Hyderabad to
global standards in terms of cleanliness. Mechanised sweeping of main roads in
the city takes place in the early hours of the day. This is again done on a
contract basis by private players.
In addition, the Government has recently proactively planned
to set up a clean air authority for Hyderabad. As per Minister for Municipal
Administration and Urban Development K.T. Rama Rao, Hyderabad has “relatively
better air quality index than many other Indian cities”. Yet, measures are
being taken by the government to control pollution.
Hyderabad was ranked as the best Indian city to live in by Mercer,
the global human resources consulting firm in the year 2016, leaving behind
cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune. Hyderabad was
also ranked as the 19th cleanest city in India, out of a total of 73
cities with a population more than a million, under the Swachh Sarvekshan 2016.
Most people who come from other parts of the country and make
Hyderabad their home are very fond of the city. Apart from friendly people,
quality of living, being relatively safe with lower crime rates, having world
class education and healthcare facilities and cheaper real estate compared to
its counterparts like Bangalore and Chennai, what does stand out about
Hyderabad is its cleanliness compared to the other cities in India!
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