Swachh Bharat is an excellent initiative but it has had an impact only in certain areas - like cleanliness at railway stations and garbage collection in certain localities.
Our seas, lakes, rivers, streams and nullahs are still abused by the public and treated like garbage dumps. Every water body in India is abused on a daily basis by our citizens.
Near urban areas and even hill stations (like Matheran/Mahabaleshwar/Panchgani) there are streams of garbage flowing down hillsides - instead of clear streams of water.
AND NO ONE SEEMS TO BE NOTICING IT!
Unless the public is fined heavily they are not going to pay attention - because a lifetime of dirty habits cannot be wiped-off in a few years without drastic measures.
Please -
a) Increase fines exponentially - minimum Rs.1,000/- for a single offence. This could be a person throwing even a single packet of chips.
b) Appoint cleanliness marshals who will actually levy the fines. In troublesome areas, the police should be instructed to protect them if they are abused or threatened.
c) Ban all immersions - including Ganesh and Durga Puja Visarjans. (PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT LAKES AND RIVERS AFTER IMMERSIONS - THEIR CONDITION IS SHOCKING). No civilized person in the world would want this to happen.
d) Ban throwing of religious offerings in the sea/rivers/lakes/wells - including garlands etc.
e) The police themselves should be instructed to object to all the above if it happens in their presence - instead of behaving like mute spectators like they normally do.
Let us not lose the momentum of Swachh Bharat.
Thank you,
Milind Chitnavis
Our seas, lakes, rivers, streams and nullahs are still abused by the public and treated like garbage dumps. Every water body in India is abused on a daily basis by our citizens.
Near urban areas and even hill stations (like Matheran/Mahabaleshwar/Panchgani) there are streams of garbage flowing down hillsides - instead of clear streams of water.
AND NO ONE SEEMS TO BE NOTICING IT!
Unless the public is fined heavily they are not going to pay attention - because a lifetime of dirty habits cannot be wiped-off in a few years without drastic measures.
Please -
a) Increase fines exponentially - minimum Rs.1,000/- for a single offence. This could be a person throwing even a single packet of chips.
b) Appoint cleanliness marshals who will actually levy the fines. In troublesome areas, the police should be instructed to protect them if they are abused or threatened.
c) Ban all immersions - including Ganesh and Durga Puja Visarjans. (PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT LAKES AND RIVERS AFTER IMMERSIONS - THEIR CONDITION IS SHOCKING). No civilized person in the world would want this to happen.
d) Ban throwing of religious offerings in the sea/rivers/lakes/wells - including garlands etc.
e) The police themselves should be instructed to object to all the above if it happens in their presence - instead of behaving like mute spectators like they normally do.
Let us not lose the momentum of Swachh Bharat.
Thank you,
Milind Chitnavis
Viewed by 8769
View all 63 comments Below 63 comments
The railways have done quite a bit to get stations cleaned up. I was pleasantly surprised recently to see the Kolhapur railway station's women's waiting room toilet quite clean. It was not smelly and reasonably clean. What is missing is the enough sign boards in Hindi or local language (and NOT in ENGLISH) to urge people to keep environs clean. Within the compartment too, there are not enough messages to not litter the tracks. Recently I travelled by Sahiyadri (train no. 11023) on 4 June 2016. My seat no. was 33. I requested a passenger next to me not to throw litter on the track out of the window, but it had no effect on them. They threw it out anyway. Each cubicle should have a message to remind them about not littering.
Jun 11
As long as people think we just need to get garbage out of sight, we will put it in drains,streams and rivers hoping water will sweep it away. We need to see waste as a resource and recycle a max. Swachh Bharat must focus on creating the infrastructure for recycling. We can start by putting together a map of existing recycling facilities in the country so that municipalities know where they can send their recyclables. Then only will separation at source and door-to-door collection make sense.
Jun 07
Empty plastic water bottles are the biggest culprit lying all over the country, particularly along roads and at tourist spots. There is a need to have a system wherein this can be avoided. Most of the cities have monsoon drains for rain water but all of them are clogged with garbage.
Jun 06
Please do not include garbage collection because this too is not done properly. At least not in my area.
Jun 06
