It happened recently on a train journey to the beautiful seaside resort of Puri, when one of our fellow passengers, an American teacher on a visit to India, was searching for a dustbin to throw away a biscuit wrapper in a small, obscure railway station where the train had halted. His perseverance was commendable as he did find one before the train started moving, while all around him, he could see Indians spitting, throwing banana peels and waste onto the tracks. People near him watched him in amusement, and probably thought he was strange to go through such lengths, when he could have imitated them.

It happened yet again on the Puri beach itself. Strolling on the sands one evening, I came across a Swede who started talking about the garbage piled up on one of the pathways to the beach where a channel was created for dirty water to flow and accumulate. He enquired surprisingly of me as to how people could do this so near a beach, and why nothing was done about it. In his country, Sweden, he explained matter-of-factly, they turned garbage into manure and electricity. My response was to mutter something unintelligible, hang my head in shame and try to change the topic. 

Coincidence, as it may seem, both the incidents involved foreigners who had come to our country on pleasure trips and were bitter reminders of the civic state of our country, or to put it more correctly, the civic state we, the citizens, have brought this country to. These two incidents left an indelible scar on my civic conscience, and I found myself staring at an India, which, on one side was aspiring to be in the top league of powerful nations because of its software skills, space science achievements and intelligent human resources among others, while on the other side do not know, or do not bother to manage and dispose of its waste.

For a culture in which people consider an early morning bath as a necessary ritual, and observe cleanliness, as next to godliness, it is unfortunate to see their own country littered with trash. Every other empty space and street corner is a sore sight with an assortment of waste strewn around: industrial, human, construction, etc. We either turn a blind eye or run past it passing comments, and when matters get worse, we join the chorus shouting from rooftops against the municipality, who are only partly to blame. 

We do not spend a moment on self-introspection as to what part we, the citizenry, play in the accumulation or cleaning up of garbage. Holding someone responsible for the production of garbage is irrational, instead they should be held accountable for its proper disposal.

Defaulters should be taken to task if they do not responsibly ensure the disposal of rubbish in a clean, environment friendly and efficient manner. An unscrupulous industrialist cutting corners by not installing effluent treatment plant on his site and getting away with it by greasing the palms of equally dishonest pollution control board inspectors; an indifferent and callous housewife for whom her space is heaven, another’s a garbage dump; a builder out to make a quick buck on his construction site with total disregard about the disposal of construction waste he has left behind; motorists who should get regular emission tests for their vehicles so the strain on the environment is reduced to some extent — these are all, sadly, part of the problem. 

Recognising and addressing the problem is the first step in helping maintain a cleaner environment. We need to clean up our act and realise that what is bad for us is also bad for our neighbours. I begin by asking those people who are fond of comparing India with China and Singapore and showing our country in a bad light, why they never venture to compare their sense of civic duty and responsibility with that of the foreigners. 

Ultimately, cultivating civic sense and practicing it, not as a part of a child’s school curriculum, but also as a part of our daily lives.

{The cartoon used is copyright  material of Times of India; if anyone has any objection please let me know and I will remove it immediately}

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