All societies generate waste. Waste is not unique to any nation. The amount of waste generated of course varies according to the culture, population and population density. However, how this waste is disposed of does vary quite widely. Improper disposal leads to accumulation of waste in public spaces leading to squalor and disease. It destroys waterways and pristine landscapes. It makes urban spaces ugly and unsightly; it causes stench and nausea, and worse. It sullies a nations reputation.
In India we have a garbage problem. Our cities are a mess. Our villages are no better. Our rivers and lakes stink. Visitors to our country hold their noses in disgust and we hang our heads in shame. Why is it so? Why should it be so?
Is it because we generate more garbage than other countries? Actually urban Indians at 600 gms per person per day produce less garbage than the average American at 2 kg per person per day according to a recent news report. Is it population density the cause? There are cities in the world that compare with our cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in population density, but are not as dirty. New York City is a fairly densely populated city but is reasonably clean. Is it economics? True, most Western industrialized cities are richer and have more financial resources to take care of their waste. But we cannot cry poor forever. Look at poor countries in our neighbourhood who have a better record in urban sanitation. Sri Lanka, a small country in our part of the world, with a political system that is no better than ours, is doing a better job in maintaing clean public spaces.
When we speak of solutions, we often speak of the efficiency, efficacy and sustainability of waste disposal systems. We do need efficient collection systems with source segregation being one of the most important changes. We do not speak much about the transport or transfer of garbage. We worry about the actual disposition of the garbage. Landfills and the space needed for them and the need for waste processing plants are always in the news. But these are universal issues and are not unique to India. Source segregation is a relatively new phenomenon even in the industrialized "developed" West. Even there, except for the Scandinavian countries it is not practised well. Most studies show that segregation and recycling only account for a small proportion of the total waste disposal. Source segregation is a very important activity and we are in no way belittling it. It would definitely lead to better waste management. Our point is that the cause of our unclean public spaces is not the lack of proper waste disposal systems alone. In many countries public spaces became clean long before these waste disposal systems were even thought about.
It all boils down to attitude and culture. We do not have a culture that appreciates the beauty of clean public spaces. This lack of appreciation for beauty in the public space manifests as poor civic sense among our citizenry and poor civic governance from our administrators.
The housewife or maid who throws household waste out the window onto the street or the householder or business owner who dumps his garbage on the roadside lack this appreciation of beauty. Men who urinate on public walls and spit everywhere have no sense of the beauty of clean public spaces. The sanitary worker or garbage collector who spills garbage as he collects them, leaving the street still dirty after it has been "cleaned" has no sense of aesthetics. Administrations that provide open lorries as opposed to covered dump trucks to transport garbage across cities are doing the same. The system of open garbage collection points or transfer points to transfer garbage from local tricycles etc. to larger vehicles is unnecessary and again shows a lack appreciation for cleanliness. If the garbage has to be thus transferred, it has to be done in such a way that it is invisible. That is how most other countries do it. It should not be collected in public spaces creating greater piles of garbage before being hauled away. This is how it is done in many Indian cities. It not only increases the work, it is also a messy way of doing things. The process of waste collection need not be messy. It has to be done in the cleanest way possible.
We also do not see the ugliness that unwanted posters on public walls create. Political leaders should stop their followers from defacing walls around the city with political posters. It is a simple directive, but one that most politicians in India do not have the courage to make.
It is wrong to argue that Indians do not have a sense of beauty. We do. We have the most exquisitely beautiful dance, music and other art forms. We make beautiful movies. Our country is endowed with natural beauty. We have beautiful architecture both ancient and modern. We have beautiful people and beautiful literature. What we lack is the ability to appreciate the beauty in our public spaces and the ability to create that beauty. It is indeed an Indian weakness. We, the descendants of one the most ancient and accomplished cultures in the world, have lost the ability to create and maintain beautiful public spaces. We have lost the ability to see beauty in cleanliness. We have become a messy culture that we have to acknowledge and improve. We have to start seeing the beauty in our beaches, lakes, rivers, forests, mountains, cities, towns, villages, roadsides, parks and public buildings. We have to clean them, stop dirtying them, maintain them and create beauty where there is none. We have to cherish our public spaces and take ownership of them. We have to be proud. We owe it to our children and their descendants. We owe it ourselves.
