London can learn concept of 'jan bhagidari' from India's cleanest city Indore, says London deputy mayor

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

London Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal on Thursday said the capital of the United Kingdom can learn 'jan bhagidari' (people's participation) from Madhya Pradesh's Indore, which has been voted the cleanest city in India six times in a row in the Union government's 'Swachh Surverkshan' initiative. Talking to reporters here, Agrawal, who was born in Indore and moved to London nearly two decades ago, also stressed on the need to keep investing in transport infrastructure and encouraging people to used them instead of their own cars. «It was people's participation which helped Indore become the cleanest city in India.

It takes time to change people's mindset. But, it was phenomenal how the mindset of the entire population changed in such a short period,» he said. «Indore's case proves we can achieve anything if people join hands to change something.

London can definitely learn how goals can be achieved through jan bhagidari,» said Agrawal, who is in Gujarat to attend the Urban20 or U20 mayoral summit on July 7 and 8 as part of India's G20 presidency. When asked about what Indian cities can learn from London, he said, «London's bus network is outstanding. In addition to London's overground as well as underground railway network, some areas of the city have trams.» Asserting that widening roads is not the solution to traffic jams in cities, he said, «Since London is an old city, widening of roads cannot be a solution to every problem.