just nine more years.....

"Lucknow aspires to be amongst the best cities in India, to live in, which provides universal access to sanitation facilities, especially to under privileged."

However, the ground reality in the city is.....

* Over 5-7 percent urban dwellers and 12 to 15 percent people living in slum dwellers defecate in the open.

* Over 6-9 percent urban and 19-22 percent population do not have access to individual toilets.

* Around 55 percent of the total sewage is not treated.

* Waste from septic tanks is disposed off without any treatment, along with solid waste.

* There is no provision for reuse of treated water.

* Around 50 percent of households throw solid waste in the open areas.

* Majority of small hospitals and clinics mix the biomedical waste with the household solid waste.

* Solid waste is transported in open vehicles.

* Waste water is not able to pass through open drains which are generally choked with solid waste.

This is a broad picture of the city as far as sanitation is concerned. Yet we aspire to become one of the best livable cities of India giving universal access to sanitation facilities to all, with a special mention of under privileged.

Nonetheless, an effort has been initiated jointly by the government agencies, non-government agencies, private partners and a group of common citizens to improve the present scenario and convert the city into a "Clean Lucknow - Green Lucknow''.

Lucknow is the capital of north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The fast growing city boasts of a few reputed educational and science research institutions of India. It has got India's one of the best management institute. The rich cultural heritage of Lucknow reflects in its Mughal and Colonial monuments.

However, the city urgently requires the infrastructure for basic civic amenities to bring it at par with all the metropolitan cities of the country.

The government has appointed a private company CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory to prepare a sanitation plan for the city. Before preparing the plan the company conducted a study to know the present status and found that interventions are required in building up infrastructure, governance and institutional coordination besides financial and social interventions.

The company with the help of international non government agencies like Oxfam and WaterAid is now holding consultations with voluntary organisations which are working on the issue with the communities at the grass root level and also with citizens who are interested in development of the city.

All the stakeholders have now started working together with a sole objective to make Lucknow 100 percent open defecation free besides ensuring 100 percent collection and scientific disposal of solid and liquid waste by 2020.

With SP around, UPA should not worry

At last the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has categorically stated that with his party around, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) does not have to worry about its existence.

Although he conveniently ignores the question if he has received any offer from the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to this regard, he admits that "the UPA has no crisis of numbers in the Parliament (which means the UPA has ever ready support from the Samajwadi Party in case of any need)."

After a long while Mulayam Singh, who is known as a grass root level politician, appeared in his usual aggressive "do or die" mode.

He sounded more concerned about his party's onward movement in Uttar Pradesh, which is its karmabhumi, than about the crisis in the UPA.

The biggest Opposition for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)- led government in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party has planned a mass movement in the state against the ruling party.

According to Mulayam, the state government has arrested over 15,000 youth supporting his party, in last three days. "This has already underlined the success of the party's movement scheduled to start from March 7.

Samajwadi Party is known for its strategic moves to make its agitations success. In the past also the party leaders on several occasions, have fooled the government's restrictions and have succeeded in their movements.

Working on the same pattern, Mulayam advised his party men to go underground for a day to make the agitation a success again.

"Now substantial arrests have already been made, hence the party youth, which is enthused, should hide for the day and come out with more energy tomorrow to make the people's agitation a success." These were the wise words of Mulayam for his party men.

"The Chief Minister Mayawati seems to be so scared that she is leaving no stone unturned to obstruct the Samajwadi movement, which is, in fact, a people's movement.'' He said the party had common man in its support.

Mulayam minced no words while drawing parallels between the Emergency period and the governance of Mayawati. But at the same time he also did not forget to remind Mayawati that people never forgive the leaders, who have ever tried to snub their voices.

"If people can show the consequences of atrocities of a leader to a person like former Prime Minister of India, late Indira Gandhi, who was such a popular leader, what is the capacity of Mayawati in front of her. She cannot be compared even with the dust at Ms. Gandhi's feet."

He concludes with a statement that any government that has snubbed the voices of youth, media and judiciary, that government has no chance of survival. "And Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party is snubbing all the three, so it is clear that she will have to bear the consequences in the next assembly election (slated early next year).