Public negligence in maintaining cleanliness in public places has been a common occurrence in India. This phenomenon is particularly true in times of festivities and big celebrations. Hence, the only effective way to keep public areas clean is by enforcing laws and raising awareness .
Image source: Tribune India
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Indian Celebrations and Festivals:
Throughout the year, lots of Indian festivals are celebrated. One of the big and major festivals is Diwali, where people indulge themselves in sweets and burst crackers from dusk till dawn. Apart from this being a major contributor to noise pollution, not to mention air pollution, the residues and wastes from bursting crackers litter the road and land like fallen leaves on an autumn evening. Only these residues are both hazardous and harmful to the environment.
Non-profit organizations, elected officials, and municipal leaders have all made pleas to celebrate Deepavali in a hygienic way, but their requests have gone unanswered. The leftovers from firecrackers are dumped on streets and in public areas, adding to the additional blanket of litter already present on the 1.5 lakh metric tons of waste produced daily in India’s cities.
Pride for self-hygiene but not for public spaces:
The alarming issue is that in addition to the customary and indecent left-behinds of spitting and urinating in public areas, the typical dumps of waste such as cans, leftover foods, empty bottles, cigarette butts, fast-food packaging, styrofoam, and other disposable plastics, crackers also add to this, making public areas a landfill. This is not shocking since, throughout the year, it appears that India has an innate habit of littering public areas; the situation is made worse by festivals.
Image source: Tribune India
Indians are recognized to be conscientious about personal hygiene, particularly with regard to maintaining immaculate homes. And they also take huge pride in keeping their homes and workplaces spotless. Therefore, hygiene is not an alien concept to them. But at the same time, despite numerous efforts from national and local campaigns to stop littering, people have been unable to do so.
Broken Windows Syndrome:
It seems impossible to figure out what it is that changes people when they cross their house threshold and go out in public. Roadside litter is so accepted that it has become taken for granted. The phenomenon known as “broken windows syndrome” applies to this situation in public areas. It occurs when someone sees trash on the road and believes it is acceptable to add to the pile. This is one of the main causes, along with simple indolence and negligence, a lack of trash cans, a disapproving mindset toward the government and law enforcement, and, most significantly, lax regulation.
A prevailing indifference and a lack of civic conscience are the primary factors that encourage littering. We overlook the harmful effects of debris on our health. Rag-pickers generally burn litter on abandoned lots without comprehending that doing so may give off harmful chemicals that cause respiratory issues.
Civil disobedience demands strict laws and penalties.
Flooding results from non-biodegradable waste clogging drains. The municipality’s inadequate waste management practices, including routine garbage disposal in drains and on the streets, led to the Surat plague of 1994, which claimed 56 lives. We seem to have overlooked the lessons from this tragedy. To stop people from littering, this calls for strong laws with harsh penalties and aggressive awareness campaigns. There isn’t an alternative.
People, in their enthusiasm, often forget their responsibilities towards the environment. The essence of festivities has been altered from what it once was. We have to keep in mind that the celebrations aim to bring people together in a peaceful and harmonious way. It is not about showing off one’s wealth by buying and setting off tons of crackers. Let’s promote safe and clean deepavali with clay lamps and lights rather than pollutants and toxic waste.
