New campaigns; the same old habits

Image Courtesy: Charuhas Acharya @ A glimpse of Paradise

It is easy to talk about change, but habits aren’t easy to kill. This picture was taken on 27/2/2015; five months after the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. People still litter; the civic authorities continue to ignore the garbage. 

Maybe this pile will attract someone’s attention, and then a wave of cleanliness will begin. A local celebrity will sweep it, and expect people to follow. People will definitely follow- on Facebook, on Twitter, on every other social media- not in real life. Sadly, these waves are limited to virtual life.

The civic authorities do include the local elected politicians. However, these people are a class in itself. They preach cleanliness, even take up brooms, but don’t do any follow up. Still, there is no penalty strictly imposed on those who litter the streets. The cleanliness truck passes the same littered street every morning, but fails to classify the trash as garbage to be disposed. We are still a long way from Swachh Bharat.

India continues as it always did. Everyone is either in a race or living their life; no time for a sense of duty or a change. The only change most people carry is spare coins for the auto wallah or the bus conductor.

Related article: Swachh Bharat, littered streets, and the missing trash cans.

Swachh Bharat, littered streets and the missing trash cans

Once upon a time in the golden past, though not so golden when you think of it. Still, if you observed minutely you might have found some streaks of gold, if you were lucky. At that time, Mumbai could boast of little penguins along the streets. No, no, it’s the truth. That was when we weren’t worried about global warming. If you were lucky enough to have seen Mumbai during 1990’s you might have seen them. No kid could resist the lure of feeding those pretty black and white creatures with yellow beaks. We couldn’t just throw the rubbish on the road, and miss the chance of getting close to the penguin. Yes, I’m talking of the striking trash cans of Mumbai which resembled a penguin. It wasn’t like any trash can, but a cute penguin.

As children, we were in awe of the penguins. They were as much an attraction as any picnic site. But, as I grew up the penguins vanished without a trace. Last year, when I went to Gateway with my nephew, I couldn’t show him any penguins or any other trash cans in Mumbai. I was worried. Was there a possibility, the penguins had migrated to the poles, and the poor authorities couldn’t find any substitute?