The Doon Mozaic, Swachh Bharat and Dilemma of Dehradun Swacch Bharat and Dilemma of Dehradun | Page 2

Editor’s Note
The cleanliness of a city or town portrays the level of civic sense its citizens
have. Cities like Chandigarh are amongst the most admired cities in north India,
majorly because of their cleanliness. After two consecutive rejections of the
Smart city proposal, Dehradun city was losing its aspiration to make it to the
Smart city lists. But, the proposal accepted in June 2017, has again led us to
imagine our small town growing into a giant and sustainable metro. The conflict
between saving the heritage and bringing new structures in place of existing
ones has been the heat of the moment. But, one topic that still haunts me is the
future of solid waste segregation in Dehradun city. As per the reports of 2015
and 2016, the city was at the lowest among the major cities across India. No
matter how much Dehradun is known for its natural scenic beauty, the truth lies
in the Swachh Bharat Indexing rankings. With about 20% votes and views from
the residents of Dehradun, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has fallen disastrously in
recent two years. The unwilling steps of past’s governments, MLAs and MPs
have led Dehra to an embarrassing moment to secure 314th rank among the 434
cities of India in Swachh Bharat Sarvekshan. With a high rate of open defeca-
tion observation by Swachh Bharat Sarvekshan Surveyors, the question firmly
stands, whether the past governments from 2014-2016 were not willing to par-
ticipate in Clean India Movement. But, our confusion got even more deepened
when Uttarakhand got declared as an “Open defecation free” State in June 2017.
If the city of Dehradun is suffering from open defecation and solid waste man-
agement problems, then the reports by central and state government must be
generated by orthodox methodology.
This issue provides a descriptive limelight on the prevailing problems in Deh-
radun city and in other districts of Uttarakhand. With a column dedicated to the
drying lake of Nainital and dedicated research by our team on finding the loop-
holes in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and in socio – political aspects of this move-
ment. The issue portrays aspects of becoming a smart city and role of Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan in making smart citizens.
This issue is the last monthly issue to be included in half yearly print Journal.