Rahul Gandhi said coining a slogan 'Swachh India' and keeping the country clean were two entirely different things.
Taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 'Swachh India' drive, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today said mere slogans devoid of clear strategy and action plan would not make any difference and keep the country clean.
Mr Gandhi, along with the other senior Congress leaders, was speaking after visiting the Deonar garbage dumping ground in Mumbai, where recent fires have caused serious health and environmental concern in many parts of the city.
"I met few people of Chembur here. One person was weeping. People are getting affected by TB. Even one child has died due to this. This ground has emitted pollution which is causing problems to them," Mr Gandhi told mediapersons at the sprawling dumping ground.
A string of fires at Deonar recently had raised health concerns after smog and toxic gases spread around the area.
A six-month old boy had died in a locality near the dumping ground with the parents saying their child died of suffocation due to toxic gases emitted from the blaze.
However, the civic officials had refuted the charge. "Merely slogans of Swachch India won't make any difference. You need to have an action plan for it. You ought to come out with some strategy," Mr Gandhi said.
He also said coining a slogan 'Swachch India' and keeping the country clean were two entirely different things.
"But unfortunately, there seems to be no vision and strategy how to keep India clean and make people free from this menace of dumping ground," he said.
Demanding that the garbage ground be shut, Gandhi, who walked through the heaps of dumps without wearing a mask, said, "PM and Chief Minister should do something immediately. This city, Mumbai is a symbol of progress."
On behalf of Chembur Citizens' Forum, its joint secretary S Balakrishnan met Rahul Gandhi and demanded the closure of the garbage yard, paving the way for scientific processing of the 12 million tonnes of domesitc waste piled up there.
"The dump reached its saturation point ages ago and fire and smoke emanating from it is posing a serious threat to the health of lakhs of citizens," Mr Balakrishnan told PTI, adding that Gandhi endorsed the demand for its immediate closure.
Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said, "Continuation of dumping ground, despite its life expectancy getting over way back in 2000, is the live example of corruption of the Shiv Sena-BJP duo, ruling Mumbai city corporation."
"BMC administration has miserably failed to dispose garbage and debris scientifically and that is why Congress is demanding immediate closure of the ground," he said.
Opposition leader in the BMC, Praveen Chheda was also present at the ground along with the other leaders.