3 weeks ago
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Backs Suhel Seth's Call for Cleaner Cities
Two Indian leaders want people to join together to make their cities cleaner.
A long time ago, the country started a big plan to be cleaner.
One leader says people forgot the plan and now live in dirty surroundings.
Suhel Seth asked citizens to send him photos and videos of problems in their cities.
He says he will show them to others so things get fixed.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says everyone in the whole country should join this effort.
Her city, Bengaluru, is already trying to become cleaner.
She says people must keep good habits over a long time.
Some people think the government did not do enough to clean cities.
Other people think citizens throw trash everywhere, and that is why cities are dirty.
Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw endorsed Suhel Seth's call for a citizen movement for better, cleaner cities, urging it to become a national movement.
Shaw called the public's failure to sustain Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2014 Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a 'civic shame' after more than a decade.
Suhel Seth asked citizens to WhatsApp photographs, videos, dates, and locations of urban living problems to 9910331864 so he can amplify them publicly.
Seth's appeal came amid severe waterlogging in Gurugram, and his July 2026 book 'WTF India: Are We Losing the Plot?' featured in his video.
Netizens were divided, with some blaming failed flagship programs like Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities and others blaming public littering and destruction of public spaces.
- Who
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson of Biocon, and public figure Suhel Seth; Prime Minister Narendra Modi referenced.
- What
- A call to make better, cleaner cities a national citizen movement, with citizens sending evidence of urban problems for public amplification.
- Where
- India, with reference to efforts in Bengaluru and severe waterlogging in Gurugram.
- When
- Recently; Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched in October 2014, over a decade ago.
- Why
- To address urban cleanliness, waterlogging, and civic infrastructure problems through sustained citizen action.
Citizen Responsibility
Government and Agency Accountability
Who is to blame for urban filth
Citizen Responsibility
The public failed to sustain the Swachh Bharat movement and relentlessly litters and destroys public spaces, contributing heavily to the 'all-around filth'.
Government and Agency Accountability
Flagship programs like Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities failed to deliver clean, basic infrastructure, and municipalities and development authorities are responsible; one netizen called Delhi the filthiest capital in the world under Modi.
How to fix dirty cities
Citizen Responsibility
A citizen movement with sustained behavioural change and cleaner habits is the way forward, with citizens sending photos and videos of problems for public amplification.
Government and Agency Accountability
Civic agencies and municipalities should be reformed to allow private equity participation, bringing in modern technology, brains, and funds to revive dead civic agencies across major cities.
Key facts
- Supporting leader
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon chairperson
- Initiator
- Suhel Seth, citizen movement on X
- WhatsApp number for complaints
- 9910331864
- Swachh Bharat launch
- October 2014, by PM Narendra Modi
- Seth's video length
- 137 seconds
- Seth's new book
- 'WTF India: Are We Losing the Plot?' (July 2026)
- City cited for waterlogging
- Gurugram
- City with clean drive
- Bengaluru
Quotes
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Chairperson of Biocon, a leading Indian biopharma company
“"Let’s join hands and create a movement that will make real change happen," Seth wrote in the X post. "If you are unhappy with the way you live, WhatsApp photographs, videos with the date and location on 9910331864 and I will amplify it. Let’s start, we deserve cities that we can live in."”
livemint.com
“"This must be a national movement," Shaw said in a post on X. "Hon PM Narendra Modi had started the Swachh Bharat movement a decade ago, and it is a matter of civic shame that we as a people failed to act."”
livemint.com
Sources
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