How
to Tackle the Problem of Increasing Filth in the Country
During the last twenty-one years I
have travelled to more than fifty developed and developing countries
of the world. But nowhere have I seen greater fifth than in India. We
have been an independent nation for more than fifty years but the
streets of our cities, our drainage system and roads are in an
extremely poor shape. It is difficult to imagine how a civilized
society can tolerate such unsanitary conditions.
How did the problem of fifth come
up? What is the remedy? What are the basic reasons behind filthy
conditions? When we consider these questions we find that we have
become highly selfish and self-centred. You might have noticed that in
metropolitan cities like Mumbai there are thousands of fully
air-conditioned and 'carpeted offices but the approach road to the
buildings and the staircases are always terribly filthy. When someone
spends Rs. 50 lakhs or even one crore to purchase an office how is it
that he does not pay attention to the cleanliness of the staircase
which is very much a part of his office? Similarly, you will find
excellent residential buildings and splendid
houses in every city. People spend lakhs and crores of rupees
in constructing them. But outside those houses you will find heaps of
dirt and fifth. People throw household garbage waste just outside
their own houses. It seems they are not sensitive to the fifth on the
road outside their own houses though while they themselves have to use
and walk on that road every day.
Several people, in order to cover
up their own shortcomings, put the blame on the increasing population
of the country for the prevailing insanitary conditions while the fact
is that the increase in population can be in the interest of the
country in a certain sense. There are scores of countries in the world
where the population per sq. km. is ten times of what it is in India.
If the higher rate of growth of population is the cause for insanitary
conditions, then the filth in those countries should be ten times more
than in our country. But no, their cities are very clean. Hongkong,
Japan and Singapore are the brilliant examples. To blame it on the
increasing population is nothing short of a workman quarrelling with
his tools.
To work out a proper solution to
the problem, the following measures should be taken :
In every street of a city,
five-feet high durable plastic dustbins with covers should be
installed for depositing household waste into them. They should be put
up at a reasonable distance from each other and should be fixed to
electric or telephone poles. The waste should be cleared daily between
12 midnight and 5 a.m. by municipal workers and should be carried away
in special waste disposal compression trucks. There should be a
committee in every Mohalla to oversee and assist in the effective
waste management. The committee should also take care of the fact that
household waste is deposited by the residents in the dustbins only. I
have been to Thailand recently. There, the above system is working
very well throughout the country. This ensures complete cleanliness of
the roads there.
I am also of the opinion that we
cannot succeed in our mission unless we have a sense of dedication and
we work in the interest of the society and the country. Today in our
country, certain political parties, in the name of love for the
country, are working to achieve their selfish goals by creating
communal tensions and opposing nationalistic feelings. This is nothing
but a heinous crime against the nation.
What we need is a massive effort
in the direction of creating a sense of nationalism among the people.
Today, there is such a competition among the self-seekers that for
their own selfish ends they do not hesitate to mislead others. It is,
therefore, all the more necessary for us to inculcate a feeling of
love for the nation and the society for which we should take certain
concrete steps. We should not only clean our houses but also keep the
streets clean. In order to bring awareness to the people we must run
programmes in this respect on T.V. and radio in collaboration with
non-government organizations. The Government should take care of the
financial part. Only then can we have a government for the people, of
the people and by the people in the true
sense.
People who are willing to
volunteer their services in this regard should be encouraged to come
forward in each street and mohalla. Their services should be
recognized and they should be publicly honoured. There should be a
separate Ministry for this purpose in the Central Government.
One of the major reasons for filth
and insanitary conditions
in the country is open drains. The solutions lies in having a proper
sewerage system and covered drains in every city of the country.
To accomplish
a task related to public services, decentralization of power is
essential. The responsibility of cleanliness should be given to the
elected members like the councilors, M.L.A. and M.P. of the city and
the public should be asked to evaluate their performance in their
area. A part of the budgeted amount for cleanliness should be directly
given to them for this purpose so that they can successfully complete
their assignment.
To make matters worse, the filth
and garbage collected by Municipal workers is deposited in most cities
in open grounds which in turn creates further problems and leads to
several diseases. Someone should lodge a public writ petition in the
Supreme Court and obtain an order directing the Municipalities not to
deposit garbage in the open. It should be declared to be an illegal
activity. They should make proper arrangements for the safe disposal
of garbage in a hygienic manner within the next three years. If they
do not do it within the specified period, the officers responsible for
this crass negligence should be penalized and it should be treated as
a criminal offence.
Several countries have achieved
unprecedented success in matters relating to cleanliness in their
cities. Some selected experts in India should visit those countries to
study the system and then work out a programme for cleanliness in the
Indian context. The Government should then implement it with all
sincerity. Further research in these matters should be conducted in
several universities in India leading to the award of Ph.D. degrees to
atleast one hundred persons. They should work on topics related to
disposal of garbage and
arrangements of cleanliness.
Countries like Singapore and some
Western nations have achieved extraordinary success in this direction
by using modern technology. They have set up incinerators to burn the
refuse to ashes. In the process they produce electricity also. This
ensures both cleanliness and some income to the municipality. This
income can be again put to use for ensuring further cleanliness.
Another major reason for the in
sanitary conditions in the country is the waste produced by a large
number small scale industries. Almost every street has a number of
small factories in it which spoil the environment by poisonous
chemical substances. Such things lead to terrible diseases like
cancer. It is, therefore, necessary to ban these industrial units
situated in the residential area or city streets. In countries like
America they have put a total ban on the use of such poisonous
chemicals and substances in factories but in our country due to a
slack political and government system strict measures have not been
taken to ban them. But it is high time they were banned.
Our entire country has become so
filthy that men are living in filth like insects. What is worse, they
are not aware of it. They are involved in a strange rate race and so
much engrossed in material pursuits that cleanliness and hygiene for
them is restricted to slogan shouting only. Through their entire life
they do not take any concrete steps to implement any programmes for
cleanliness.
Clean environs is a fundamental right of every citizen in the country.
To make proper arrangements for it is the constitutional and moral
duty of the Government. To turn away your face from it is nothing but
a criminal offence. Our leaders and bureaucrats should be held
responsible for the death of lakhs of people due to unhygienic
conditions in the country.