The Costs of Unclean Public Spaces

An unclean environment costs us in many ways. From increased medical costs to lost productivity to loss of prestige and investment, we all lose when our land is unclean.

1. Health
Poor hygiene causes many diseases. From diarrhoeal illness to vector borne diseases and parasites, there are many diseases that can be easily prevented by keeping the environment clean.Illness leads to an unhealthy population and can have individual and collective losses. Severe infections can lead to premature death . Diseases cause severe economic loss to the community. Poor families lose income when wage earners cannot work due to illness. They spend valuable rupees on medical treatment. If they lose money this way they will have less to save and spend. When wage earners die they cause severe economic hardship to surviving dependents.This leads to an overall loss of capital to the community. Productivity is lost.The economy of the country suffers as a result. Economic progress is stilted.

2. Investment
External investors can be turned off by unclean environments. New industries, especially those related to food and pharmaceuticals, may be reticent to invest in areas deemed unhygienic. The community loses valuable infusion of capital.The creations of new jobs is affected. The economy of the country suffers.

3. Tourism
Our governments spend crores of rupees on campaigns like Incredible India and Enchanting Tamil Nadu. They do this with the intention of attracting foreign tourists. Tourism done well, can generate tremendous income to the country and the communities involved. If the country is unclean the crores spent on advertising campaigns is wasted, as tourists generally get turned off by unsanitary environments. This is partly due to fear of disease and revulsion of visible dirt and bad odours.

4. Prestige
India has a lot of soft power to project abroad. Our film industry; culture; classical dance forms; music; literature; spirituality;our prowess in information technology and knowledge based industries; the varied beauty of our land from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari; all contribute to a positive image abroad. This image is sullied by the unclean state of our streets. This costs us on the international stage. In world forums our image is important for our diplomats to advance our interests. If the world thinks that we are incapable of keeping our public spaces clean, it will not take us seriously in matters that are more serious.

So it is important to keep our streets and public spaces clean to advance the country's development and progress. It is not a cosmetic, frivolous pursuit. A clean country has tangible real benefit for all segments of society.