Spanking new infrastructure imprinted by Surti taint

SURAT:

Civic sense

is absent in the residents of the Diamond City and also to some extent in the authorities of

Surat Municipal Corporation

(SMC), many people say. This became evident a day after mass hysteria enveloped the inauguration of the

cable-stayed bridge

on Tuesday. Garbage and spit marks can be seen all over the bridge.


No wonder that the Diamond City slipped from 4th spot (2017) to 14th in Swachh Survekshan-2018 conducted by Union ministry of housing and urban affairs in June. Priyank Desai, a private banker residing in Adajan, was aghast at the scene at the cable-stayed bridge. “I thought of taking the cable-stayed

bridge

and jog on Parle Point, which is hardly 2km from my house in the morning. While jogging on the pedestrian track, I noticed that the sidewalls were painted red with gutka spits and there was garbage everywhere. Is this the civic sense of Surtis?” asked Desai.

Nainesh Parekh, social right activists and environmentalist, said, “Surat slipped from 4th position to 14th in Swachh Survekshan recently. I was wondering why, but got my answer when I visited the cable-stayed bridge on Wednesday. We need to create some civic sense among the denizens.”

Akshay Pandya, executive engineer of SMC’s bridge cell, said, “It took eight years and many hurdles to complete this bridge. Now, it is the responsibility of the people to keep the bridge clean. We were pained to witness the scene today.”