Dr Asangba Tzudir
Infrastructure, Education, and Enforcement
Except for those who keep not only their house and their surroundings clean but also care for the sustenance of the larger environment, the rest simply litters unmindful of what they are doing and the consequences of their inhuman acts on the environment. Even if it is just a small sweet wrapper, it adds to the amount of garbage dumped while at the same time polluting and harming our environment. Ultimately it is the living beings that will suffer from its consequences.
If there are people who will simply dump their household garbage right in front of posters or banners that prohibits dumping in that very place, they will not even bother to use the waste bins even if it is right there in front of their nose, and simply litter anywhere they like. There is also a category of litterers who think that the world outside of their ‘luxury’ vehicles is a waste bin. For such people, prohibition notice or information will not work, neither will they dispose their garbage in waste bins, and so the journey of the garbage dumped by them takes a different route, and we all know too well where it finally lands and not at the designated place.
Taking the case of Dimapur, there are many shops or stores that do not keep waste bins outside their shop. Not having a waste bins in the right places also contributes to enormous littering, and though it may not be a definitive solution, keeping waste bins outside shops or stores can greatly contribute to reducing littering. It is also about convenience where people can be greatly encouraged to use waste bins if it is easily available and thereby contributes to disposing waste properly. Having waste bins of various sizes kept at prominent places also reminds people of the need to dispose trash in it. This will definitely reduce littering to a great extent. While having waste bins is very important, there should be timely collection of garbage without letting it overflow, so also timely replacement or repair of the waste bins.
Littering also results from behavioral issue of being careless or senseless or being ‘civic non-sense’ and not simply lack of waste bins. This is where education and creating awareness through various mediums, platforms and formats can create an impact. In particular, school and college students need to be sensitized on the harmful effects of waste disposal so that they can connect with the environment and the need to save it from further deterioration. Authorities of Schools and colleges can also make students pledge not to litter. This will also inculcate a sense of responsibility in their heart and mind thereby creating a healthy relationship with the environment
Yet, there will always be some people who will senselessly or conveniently dump right in front of a ‘no dumping zone’ or simply litter instead of using the waste bins. So to say, these are people that go beyond any scope of education and awareness and so some degree of enforcement should be in place through fines or penalties for littering. If educative measures do not work, then deterrence through fines or penalties should be enforced.
A clean city and a clean environment calls for inculcating a sense of collective responsibility, and this will also come through continuous community engagement through regular cleaning and maintenance activities. This will serve as a catalyst to augment responsible change. On the whole, there are also lessons to learn from other countries like the Singapore’s Clean and Green movement; Tokyo’s efficient Recycling and waste management system; Sweden’s Waste-to-Energy program; Australia’s National Waste Policy, or Vancouver’s litter prevention program. Such wide ranging focused programs and projects will really activate the ‘moral sense’ and the ‘economic sense’ of turning trash into treasure within the larger need to save our environment.
CM Rio while inaugurating the new Office Building of Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) has also announced Rs. 36 Crore for ULBS. On the idea of development, combating waste is paramount as well as a primary challenge especially for the commercial hub of Nagaland. That, the journey of waste should not start from the roads or open spaces to the drains, but within the real-time process of proper waste disposal. In combating Garbage, it comes directly connected with ‘Infrastructure’, ‘Education’ and ‘Enforcement’. These three aspects should become the three-pronged foundational pillars on which policies should be formulated towards creating the process of combating the menace of garbage.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir writes guest editorials for The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
