Lucknow Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam) is responsible for all the manual cleaning of the city lanes, roads and drains. In view of the large area under the municipality, the city has been divided into six zones and 110 wards. For the cleanliness of the city, 3448 employees are on the Nagar Nigam roles and 1748 are daily wagers assigned to the task.
Lucknow city has been developed on both the banks of the river Gomti. Dirty water from the high density population areas flows into Gomti through 43 barrels. Other than this, eight barrels are built into kukrail drainpipe, which eventually flows into Gomti. These barrels are maintained in accordance with the 11th Financial Commission. Some newly developed areas of the city do not have sufficient and well developed water drainage systems yet. These systems are under construction right now and will ease up the water logging that ails these areas.
P.K. Jain, Health officer, Nagar Nigam, states that Lucknow produces approximately 200-500gm waste per day per person. Domestic waste is not collected at the source and is often found dumped on the roads. Apart from this, construction waste is also dumped on roads. However, as an experiment, the Nagar Nigam has launched a scheme to pick up refuse from homes.
“The municipal employees of Lucknow need support in terms of information and mechanization that can bring more efficiency in cleaning activities”
Road cleaning
Road cleaning employees ensure the cleaning of roads, footpaths and drains on a daily basis. However, some newly developed areas are cleaned on a weekly basis instead of daily, owing to shortage of staff. Roads are usually cleaned in the early hours of the morning and are inspected by the Supervisor and the Cleanliness Inspector. The main wide roads of the city (from Amausi to HAL) are cleaned using Kam-Avida and CPF sweeping machines. This work is done between 9pm and 6am. To keep the public areas clean, Nigam has also built 62 Sulabh Shauchalay (public toilets) and 50 public urinals. To control the pollution caused by the city’s medical waste, an incinerator plant has been installed.
The corporation has outsourced the disposal of the biodegradable waste from the slaughter house located near Moti Lake. Slaughter house cleaning is under the supervision of the animal care officer. Work has also started on the carcass plant scheme. Although a bio-energy plant had been set up to generate electricity from solid biodegradable waste the plant is now closed. Disposal of carcasses is handled by contracting companies. The corporation control room is equipped with small vehicles and employees for disposal of small carcasses.
During summer season, the corporation takes special care to control epidemic in the city. Affected areas are cleaned, waste disposed off and insecticides are sprinkled. Water quality is tested and sale of unhygienic and stale food is banned. Drinking water pipeline leakages are detected and rectified. Malaria department ensures regular fogging and sprinkling of anti-larval drugs in the drains.
Lucknow is a beautiful amalgamation of old and new structures, culture and mannerism. Malls and multiplexes are coming up. But the roads are littered. However, there are changes all around. Waste is better managed by authorities now and the people also seem to be waking up to the need of keeping their surroundings clean. There is a need for more awareness, a deeper civic sense amidst general population.
