Clean city is everyone’s responsibility

Clean city is everyone’s responsibility
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: How many times have you called up the civic authorities to complain about uncleared garbage? How many times did you call the water supply board to stop leakage in your neighbourhood? A vast majority of the Bangalore’s population doesn’t care if the water leaks on the road or plastic waste piles up in a corner.

It’s not just the administration that is to be blamed for the uncontrolled growth of the city and the failure to meet the civic demands. The citizens also are contributing to the mess.

Once known as pensioners’ paradise, Bangalore is now growing as the city of pollution. Recent floods have shown the other face of Bangalore where half of the city was in knee-deep water.

‘‘Plastics are creating havoc in Bangalore. They are choking our lakebeds. They are carried in the open drains and was the prime reason for the recent flooding. Traditional cloth bags have vanished,’’ says urban environment activist Suresh Heblikar.

‘‘Civic sense is not taught in all schools. To make children carry home the right message, the curriculum should focus on environmental conservation,’’ he suggested.

There is no programme to sensitise the people that they will be the sufferers if open drains are blocked with filth and garbage and the lakes are constantly polluted. Cities are made up of a heterogeneous population where many people do not have a sense of belonging and environment is the last item on the priority list, the experts point out.

With recycling of plastic waste being an expensive affair, experts suggest that reduction in the use of plastic is the lone solution.