AN ODORIFEROUS PROBLEM - letters to the editor

 AN ODORIFEROUS PROBLEM

There is a news report everyday on various problems faced by the common man when the monsoons come. Clogging of drains and dumping of garbage is a regular feature. It is only when the problem is highlighted in the papers that one sees anything remotely linked to a solution, and that too is only temporary. The next year the same story repeats itself.
Last year, the Mapusa Municipal Council introduced door-to-door garbage collection. It also introduced a monthly fee of Rs 30, which many were not too happy to pay. The campaign promised segregation of waste and a clean, green Mapusa. A year has gone by and all we see is the same filth on our roads and in our gutters. Door-to door collection is a good scheme and should be continued, but it should also be enforced so that those who do not co-operate are made accountable.
With the door-to-door garbage scheme initiated, the roadside dustbins slowly vanished and people have had to resort to dumping what the garbage collector won’t accept ( cartons, thermocol pieces, glass bottles, fused tubelights, etc) into the gutters and vacant plots. Some still dump regular home waste on the roadsides and they have not yet been identified and fined.
Housing societies have become dumping grounds for those who have no place to dump broken toilets, discarded tiles, etc. In the market area, one has to wade through slush created by rotting waste from fruit and vegetable vendors. An hour’s shopping becomes a whole morning’s walk in the muck.
It is high time citizens started forming groups, and housing societies initiated composting programmes within their premises to ease the traffic of waste to some God-forsaken dumping ground, which is perpetually under dispute. Our schools must train their students to segregate in their own homes and in the school premises, and inculcate environmental consciousness. There are so many ways to use waste and even generate income from it, and many safer ways to dispose of it than burn, burn, burn. (on 9th July 2009)