Today while going through the different newspapers, felt really good and somewhat accomplishing that this 'Swachh Bharat' initiative got such a support from all sections of society. I had this gut-feeling yesterday while I was standing along with our Prime Minister at Valmiki Sadan, where he interacted with the Safaai Karmchari of NDMC and from where he started this movement, that it would definitely turn out into a mass movement!
I am not saying this just because I am still in awe of his persona or I was lucky enough to physically meet our Prime Minister (by the way I had never imagined that!!) but rather I am convinced by his belief as well as by his actions that together we can make India clean and much better place. And when he said, "yeh kaam sirf aapka nahi hai, hum sabka hai!" (this is not just your work, but of all of us!) while interacting with safaai karmchari of NDMC! and soon after that he borrowed the broom and started sweeping the pavement along with them. This only shows that, not only his words but his action too are in sync with his beliefs!
One more thing makes me believe that this dream of Swachh Bharat is not just dream but an achievable reality! Let me elaborate it a bit...by default we all inherently love cleanliness. It's just that our standard of cleanliness varies and also the extent of surrounding that one sees fit to keep neat and tidy varies... Even someone who is homeless and has to spend nights on footpaths love cleanliness for he does clean the area where he is going to sleep! I would even go to the extent and say this - Everyone Loves Cleanliness and No one likes things in shabby state!"
Its this deep rooted love for cleanliness govt. needs to tap on! We all keep our houses clean. We set beds in morning, sweep and mop our floors (or get these things done by a paid maid)... this again only proves that we love clean surroundings. Similarly, in societies that are better maintained and are frequently visited by civic bodies (like garbage collector etc) are not only clean from within but also outside the houses!
So all that is to be done is just provide basic facilities to society and the domain of cleanliness will gradually enlarge and soon will engulf the whole nation! Well I am aware that its way easier said than done... while authorities need to worry about infrastructure and support issues, we as individual need to work a bit on our own to help improve the situation. We all need to make conscious efforts not to litter on streets, parks, footpaths, roads etc. just the way we don't litter in our homes!
Also, one more thing that we can do is segregate the garbage at our homes itself... its far more easier to segregate a kilo or two of garbage at source than nearly 10 million tonnes of garbage at final disposal point. (The figure is derived from the fact that on an average household garbage produced per person per day in a city like Delhi is nearly a kilo. Multiply this with population of Delhi and you will get the daily garbage produce of our city!!) And this, segregation thing, is quite doable!!
Nearly 74% of daily household litter consists of Paper/Cardboards (30%), Vegetables (23%) and Dust, Cinders and misc. (21%). While vegetables can be utilised as organic compost in kitchen garden (if you happen to have one) and others can be bagged into one and disposed to garbage collectors. Even if you don't have a kitchen garden all you need to do is make separate baggage for vegetables (organic) and the other contents (inorganic) of this 74% part of household garbage. Luckily, we are a country which recycles a lot of inorganic wastes!
As far as the remaining 26% of garbage is concerned its produced in small quantities in regular households. It mainly consists of Glass (10%), Metals (9%), Plastic (4%) and Textiles (3%). These can be stored for sometimes at the source of production itself (that is, household) and disposed off in a while say every fortnight or month. This way a lot of burden will be taken off from final disposal sites and hence will improve waste disposal management. It's high time now, we all need to step up for this cause which is for our own good. Let's make it a policy..."My Litter, My Responsibility!" Let's stop blaming civic bodies for not installing adequate numbers of litter bins in public place...trust me they are not needed! As astounding as it may sound, Japan one of the cleanest country is among the country with lowest number of garbage bins in public place per 1000 people.
So, lets do it...let's make Our Home, a Clean Home; Our Neighbourhood, a Clean Neighbourhood; Our Village, a Clean Village; Our City, a Clean City; and Our Nation, a Clean Nation...!Together We Can, and together WE WILL...!! Let this cleanliness drive not just be a 2nd October symbolic thing...let's inculcate it into our habits and also into our children's habits.
Come on, Let's realise Mahatma's saying, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness!"
Jai Hind!!
Dr. Virat Kuntalam (@viraat_k)
Medical Officer,
New Delhi Medical Council
Parliament Street,
New Delhi 110001
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