Daniel Dhovee
It would be prudent to avoid the alleys of Senapati town but I would not resist myself from walking through it occasionally. It offers ample thought for proper sanitation. It winds round through all the dingy dwelling places east of the main street. A small drainage draining urine mixed with human fasces trailed the pedestrian to give an unusual odor. I wondered how the people living there digest their food because the aroma is so nauseating. To a stranger, the sight can be an adventure-an adventure to the most disgusting sight. One can make it to the Guinness book of world record if one can walk through it without pausing one’s breath through out the half-hour walk.
The small drain (a width and depth of one foot each) drains the waste of more than two hundred families. It often overflows leaving behind molten wastes on its edge: dried like a dry meat on a sunny day and blooms on a rainy day. As the stench reaches one’s nose, breathing stops mechanically. Moreover, one has to close one’s eyes very often to avoid disgusting sights. The drain serves not only as drainage but is toilet to children living on its banks. The drain I suppose is never cleaned because no one would bother to do it. Amidst this unhealthy eyesore, children’s faces glow innocently as any child in posh residences and mothers lovingly embraced them with the same love of a mother. However, I wonder if these mothers know the stench coming from the drain could affect their children’s health.
No one, neither the government nor any NGO had bothered to impart them the importance of maintaining proper sanitation. A social worker said that he reminded the district administration at one time but the latter ignored his appeal. The reason is no neatly dressed persons would dare to walk through it. Most people try to avoid it unless forced upon by urgent matters. The stench of the drain is not only the reason why people avoid it. The narrow path is always crowded with desperate people leisurely whiling away their precious time in drinks. They looked angry too. Brawls are inevitable. Therefore, no one dares to walk through it unless one wants to mix with the brazen people over there. Hence, it remains unnoticed.
