They say that the NDMC is among the richest civic bodies in the world. It caters to an exclusive 43.7 sq km of Delhi’s total 1,484 sq km and houses, among others, the President and Prime Minister of India, ministers, judges, top Government officials, and some of India’s biggest names in business. Even though Delhi’s population has doubled in the last 25 years, the NDMC area’s resident population has remained more or less static at around 300,000 because hardly any new houses have been added in what is primarily known as the Lutyen’s Bungalow Zone. The day-time population of the NDMC area is, however, very high, given that it also holds the central business district that attracts businessmen and workers from far and wide. Dr Anita Arya, Member, NDMC and a former Member of Indian Parliament, speaks on a few issues.

On cleanliness…

We were ranked the cleanest municipality in North India based on our management of solid waste, sanitation, cleanliness according to the Swachh Survey of 2017. Overall, we ranked seventh among 434 cities nationally. Our aim is to become number one in the country and we have drawn up a strategy to work towards that goal. We have begun by focusing on our numerous parks, which are being kept beautiful, and very clean. Recently we had sent a team of about 15 people to the USA to understand how their parks are kept beautiful and attractive. We are going to apply best practices here in NDMC. A team of gardeners were in China along with some managerial staff. They learnt how China manages its gardens efficiently and keeps them in top condition so that people are attracted to visit them. The Council has recently rented new machines to clean roads, started door-to-door garbage collection, and is constructing more public toilets.