Waste management is finding its space in the manifestos released by the three main contenders of the MCD elections. Garbage has been the bane of some localities of Delhi as stench rises from the growing heaps and streets are littered as dogs make them their playground. With the unpaid workers going on strikes occassionaly, the situation has become worse for the corporations under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
A mobile app to report the state of garbage in a locality and a clearance within four hours is one of the main promises made by AAP in their manifesto. AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has promised a dengue and dust free Delhi. During the release on Wednesday he said all the garbage of the capital territory would be completely cleared in the next one year. They would use state of the art machinery to sweep the city clean and suck out all the dust and dirt, he elaborated. The manifesto has a photograph of Arvind Kejriwal sweeping a street with a huge broom on the cover.
The AAP manifesto also promised to provide modern machinery to the workers to make their work more efficient and to take care of the health concerns of workers in the sanitation department. This is besides the promise of providing them cashless cards for medical expenses, health insurance, appointment of more sanitation workers and regular payment of salaries. Clearing of landfills by 2019, construction of community and common toilets, clearing of open drains figure under the chapter on cleanliness. For the first MCD election for the ruling party, it has also promised waiving of property tax.
In its second of three-part manifesto, the Congress said it would exempt all properties that have not been rented out from property tax. Citizens over the age of 65 will also not have to pay property tax. The party has said they will revive former chief minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit's very popular "Bhagidari" system under which local bodies and residents' welfare associations joined together to solve problems. Parking areas, a very genuine problem and a contentious issue, will get a priority, the manifesto said.
The BJP dominates all the three corporations of the MCD. Before the trifurcation, it dominated the civic bodies too. "Though we have been in power at the civic bodies for the last 10 years, it has been unfortunate that the Congress or AAP has been in power in Delhi. They have never released the funds due to us. If elected, we will ensure that we get the funds directly from the Centre," said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, as he addressed a rally at Ghewra near the Rohtak border. Tiwari promised the people here to take up the issue of railway crossing and water shortage with the government of India.
