Staff reporter
Guwahati: A year after the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) launched its high-profile door-to-door garbage collection initiative, the city continues to struggle with mounting waste and frustrated residents. What was touted as a transformative campaign to modernize civic sanitation has failed to deliver on the ground, exposing gaps in implementation and oversight.
The initiative, backed by promises of digital mapping, daily waste collection, and cleaner streets, was part of a larger effort to tackle Guwahati’s long-standing waste management crisis. Smart number plates were affixed to homes as part of a comprehensive citywide survey conducted by GeoVista Technologies Pvt. Ltd., aimed at creating a unified civic database to improve service delivery.
Yet, for residents in areas like Hatigoan and Beltola, the reality is far from the campaign’s lofty goals. Garbage collection remains irregular, bins frequently overflow, and unattended waste festers on street corners. “The GMC vans only pick up packed garbage bags. The rest of the street waste is left to rot,” said a Hatigoan resident. In Beltola, long-time resident Jyoti shared similar frustrations: “We often have to call multiple times before the collection vehicle comes. Even then, they leave half the garbage behind.”
Walking through various neighbourhoods, it’s evident that the system is faltering. Black plastic bags lie piled up at road junctions, stray dogs and cows rummage through the waste, and the air is heavy with the stench of decay. “They show up only three or four times a week. Without proper monitoring, the whole effort becomes meaningless,” said another Hatigoan local.
Despite repeated assurances from GMC about scaling up operations, deploying more vehicles, enforcing better supervision, and implementing stricter protocols, citizens are growing increasingly skeptical. Many feel that there is a widening gap between official promises and ground-level realities.
Several key questions remain unanswered: Will garbage collection be ensured for all streets, not just select pockets? Will tenants and new residents be included in the civic service loop? Are the NGOs and workers handling waste being held accountable? And most importantly, will the voices of citizens be treated as vital to the city’s development—or merely as background noise?
The GMC’s ambition to modernize Guwahati’s civic systems is not in question. But until efficiency, inclusivity, and consistency are prioritized, the dream of a cleaner, smarter city will remain just that—a dream buried under piles of uncollected garbage.
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