Littering and Indians' all-pervading apathy

Every time I draw near a street corner, I hold in my breath. Strange as it may sound, this is something I have learned from years of experience. Having come to realize that a street corner in India is synonymous with an enormous pile of garbage, I know that I will most definitely be hit by an awful stench every time I approach one.

Around the world, people are taking note of India’s economic growth. However, to those who live in the country as well as those who come for visits, one thing about the country which is clearly noticeable is that their disinterest in taking care of environmental sanitation and their propensity to litter are fields in which India and its citizens seem to have come to a standstill.

There is garbage everywhere in this country: in public spaces like parks, before government offices, and also, the most ironical of them all, under signs that say, “Please do not litter here.” In all these spots, one is sure to find a heap of innocent-looking trash just waiting to grow. Nobody seems to care about the right way to discard their waste. If anything, when a person finds a mound of garbage, he or she only adds to it.

Throwing our trash out in the streets seems to be the norm for people in this country. It seems standard here. Having lived surrounded by waste and garbage all their lives, it does not bother people anymore. As long as they have some place to dispose the trash from their houses, they are content. No one seems to care about their social responsibility of keeping their surroundings clean; and by surroundings, here, I mean the neighborhood beyond their doorsteps.

So, what does this say about these people?

No matter how the country progresses economically, there never seems to be any change in their attitude towards the environment. The streets seem to be everyone’s common dustbin. Everything we don’t need ends up in a pile somewhere out in the open.

Such is the scenario now that dumping garbage in open grounds and littering is no longer seen as an environmental problem. It is shameful that one of the fastest-growing economies needs to be seen in such light.

Although environmentally conscious people do exist, there is only so much that they can do. When these rare breed of people call the commonly seen littering mongrels on their behavior, they are either mocked or simply ignored. Instead of looking up to such people for the cause they take up, they are ridiculed.

Several municipalities in the country have proposed anti-litter laws that never see the stage of actual implementation. Even if such laws are really enforced, they would become nothing but a source of illegal income for the police or others who are given the responsibility of tackling litterers. Any fines imposed on a litterer would turn into bribes and be pocketed by them.

Apart from people’s indifference and the corrupt officials, inefficient municipalities and their inability to do away with trash from the streets, as they are supposed to, is another reason behind our filthy, garbage-cluttered streets. More often than not, the pileup that we see is trash that is overflowing from a dustbin which was probably meant to be emptied months ago. What can we expect from the common people if those, who are given the official responsibility of keeping the streets clean, slack off?

If people need to shop, they can walk all day long; if money is involved, they’re on their toes and working hard for it; but if they are asked to move a couple of feet to reach an actual dustbin, all the lethargy in the world seeps into them.

Indians’ mentality towards the environment needs to change. Their lackadaisical attitude and sheer laziness needs to give way to environmental consciousness and a basic sense of community hygiene. Sooner or later, Indians need to realize that, socially accepted or not, the “practice” of littering must be brought to an end.