Here comes another World Environment Day and where are we? Will we just plant some few tree saplings and leave it at that? Of course, planting trees is a noble task but how many trees are taken care of after the day is over? It all comes down to having basic civic sense.
One biggest concern at this juncture is the ugly scenario of strewn waste all around us. We do not think beyond our own space/compound while disposing off our wastes. Our mindset is that “if my own space is clean, I don’t care”. Thus, wastes are thrown randomly – (in someone’s compound, on the road, in the drains/streams).... Is this civic sense? Just because we have thrown away the wastes does not mean it is disposed off – it is accumulating.
Come rain, the wastes clog the drains/streams inundating entire colonies, roads turn to seasonal rivers aggravating the already bad condition of the existing roads. Come wind, the waste materials are blown everywhere making the already messy sights messier. Whom do we blame for this sorry sight? Do we blame the Government? The District Authorities? The Municipal bodies? The Village/Colony leaders? If we are to put the blame on these entities, where are we as individuals? Are we not responsible? For instance – we have a social get together, after the program one sees the wastes strewn all over the area. Can we start with putting our own waste in a dustbin which can be provided by the organizers? We construct big offices, if we see the walls there are unsightly splatters everywhere (pan/tamul stains). Who is doing these? It is us, individuals. We have to discipline ourselves to develop basic civic sense and make our surroundings a pleasant sight and a clean place to live.
We admire clean places – towns/cities and wish that those conditions exists in our place. But have we realized that in those places, people have developed strong civic sense along with proper systems put in place by the civic bodies? Even in those cities/places, there are strict rules and people are fined heavily for littering. We are very good at aping other people’s habits/culture etc. Can’t we ape their civic sense too?
Isn’t it time to wake up and start owning our problems instead of blaming someone else. Our duty as individuals to maintain a clean environment is to dispose off our wastes in designated dustbins.
The duty of local municipalities is to provide proper dustbins while ensuring daily collection of the wastes and disposing off properly (not like the present situation where it is not collected for weeks on end causing health hazards to nearby residents and a real eye sore too), their duty is to strategize and bring out plans for segregating degradable and non degradable wastes and make sure that citizens practice it.
The duty of the District Authority is to frame stringent rules and regulations for all to abide and make sure that it is implemented in spirit (need of the hour because civic sense is negligible and has to be enforced). If all these mechanisms are in place, we can look forward to a clean city/town/village.
When we individuals develop a strong civic sense and practice it in our daily life, only then we can blame the official entities for not performing their duties. Let us be conscious of our actions and do our part, let the official entities do their part.
Together we can make our city/town/place something to be proud of.
Losa Kayina, Prodigals’ Home
