Mysuru: It is a fact that any first time visitor who comes to Mysuru, is impressed with its cleanliness, stately buildings and wide roads. That is one of the reasons why Mysuru was declared the cleanest city in the country twice. However, the euphoria was short-lived, as it slipped to the fifth position last year and this year it was a further low as it stands only eighth in the country. It is a small consolation that it has topped in the medium category.

Why is the scenario so dismal? All one has to do is go round the Central Business District (CBD) first and then a few other parts to see that when the contest comes close the District Administration and the Mysuru City Corporation, the two agencies responsible for the upkeep of the city become very active. But once the exercise is over, they go back to deep slumber.

The city that has been designed by the benevolent rulers in the past is being systematically disfigured in the name of development. Apart from the unscientific drainage systems, the cable work laying is going on in many places. As a result, the manholes open up and the sewage water keeps gushing out.

The MCC which seeks the support of the brand ambassadors, environmentalists, and volunteers promptly forgets about them once the cleanliness survey is over. But during the survey care is taken to see that waste is not disposed off anywhere. The exercise to separate the dry and wet waste is undertaken and the garbage filled in containers and transported to waste units.

The volunteers and the officials will go to schools and colleges and educate the students about cleanliness. The roads are cleaned regularly to look sparkling. However, sadly all this effort is only for one or two months. The ugly look is back with mounds of unpicked waste, flowing sewage water and scant regard for cleanliness, once the two month period is over.

Negligent administration The responsibility lies with the civic bodies to maintain cleanliness even apart from the awards. Just one look at Dhanvantri Road and Sayyaji Rao Road in CBD is enough to see the pathetic state of the city.

The unscientific and ugly barriers put up on Sayyaji Rao Road from K.R. Circle to Ayurveda College Circle which was once the pride of Mysuru today presents an ugly sight.

The underground drainage system near the junction of Sayyaji Rao Road and Dhanvantri Road (where the Bata showroom is located) is where the sewage water overflows freely. The sad part is that the K.R. Hospital where thousands of patients come is just a stone’s throw away. The rainwater is still lying stagnant here and since it mixes with sewage water, the whole place stinks.

The MCC officials in spite of repeated complaints continue to ignore such a major issue. Is it that they do not have the pride, the conscience and the commitment to keep the city clean? The classic example of neglect continues to be the historic monuments like the Lansdowne Building and Devaraj Market building and the waste that is seen accumulated here.

When this is the condition of the city, how right are we in claiming that ours is the cleanest city. This is the introspection that every citizen and the official has to do and then see that with renewed vigour we all work hard to reclaim the title that rightfully belongs to us.