Ever since I moved to my house four years back, I have encountered this problem, people just refuse to throw their household waste into the dustbin, it’s always on the road and is causing major chaos on the roads for the drivers and pedestrians alike. When I interviewed the residents of the apartment where this bin is located I learned that this problem has existed for over two decades and no one has done anything about it, people have complained and it has been cleaned but within a week, it’s back to square one. I also asked the residents what they think will happen in the next five years, almost all of them suggested that there won’t be any change and though it will be cleaned, people are tough to change and they will always throw the garbage on the road very carelessly. I feel there are three ways in which this problem may progress:
- Like the residents suggested, it will all remain the same without any change.
- There maybe a permanent solution to this problem and everybody will benefit.
- It all becomes worse, the garbage is strewn across the street and not one person, resident or passerby is happy about it.
Right now the garbage is thrown outside the bin rather than inside and when I interviewed a certain man named Ganesh, he said that it has to be a mutual effort from both the corporation and the residents; ” The residents should throw the waste in the right place and the corporation should regularly clear the garbage to prevent the piling up of waste. However well we do our part, it will be of no use if the garbage is allowed to pile up.”
The waste also severely affects the dogs and cats residing in the streets as they eat the garbage and this can be very toxic as we don’t know what kind of things people throw into the bins also there are cows who munch on the waste scattered on the footpath and on the roads.
Most people who were interviewed said that the problem can be solved if families start to segregate at source and if the government brought in waste segregation under the law.
An example where segregation helped a city, is Mysore. They also had problems with improper garbage disposal but now the Karnataka government has said the garbage won’t be collected if it isn’t segregated. So if this can happen in Mysore, why can’t it happen here?
