Money Goes Unused As Dirt Trap Tightens Around Delhi

In recent times, real estate developers have cited lack of funds as a cause for their troubles. However, when one hears that municipal bodies in Delhi have failed to utilise the funds allocated to them under the Centre's Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), one wonders whether limited access to finances is really a constraint in fighting urban life evils.

According to media reports, while the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has not touched a penny of the Rs 46.28 crore allocated to it for the financial year 2015-16, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has been able to spend only 0.25 per cent of the Rs 31.63-crore release. The chiefs of both the municipal bodies say “it is too early to divulge details of the spending plan”.

“We are working on different projects under the SBM. There are a number of heads under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Unless the work is complete, it will be difficult to give the exact figure of spending which will be available by the end of this year,” media quoted NDMC Vice-Chairman Rajesh Bhatia as saying.

While it has received Rs 139.60 crore as of May 2016, the national capital will receive over Rs 360 crore under the entire mission period. Launched on October 2, 2014, the SBM is expected to, among many other things, eliminate open defecation and eradicate manual scavenging by 2019.

This comes at a time when surveys by global and domestic bodies point towards the rising pollution levels and a sharp decline in Delhi's sustainability rate. In fact, at an index of 100 most sustainable cities prepared by Amsterdam-based consultancy company Arcadis, New Delhi stood at 97th spot. At Arcadis' water sustainability index of 50 cities, India's national capital stood last. Making matters worse for the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-ruled union territory are the rising cases of chikungunya and dengue.

In lights of these facts, there should have been keen efforts to clean up Delhi. Unused funds indicate towards the lack of will to do so. Despite its many merits, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project seem not to be moving in the right direction.