Spilled Garbage, Gate No. 3, Patiala House

The garbage is spilled all over but not in dustbin. I had clicked this picture just outside the Patiala House Court where rules are made but not followed.

Much has been said, and much has been claimed and in the midst of this chaos, the simple truths were forgotten and overlooked. Every year, as the monsoon arrives, life is plagued by multiple woes; starting from water logging to various other issues. And as the monsoon clouds disappear, so is the common man’s angst against the MCD. However, one that is perennial, unlike the monsoon is the smelling garbage truck that you often end up following on your way to work, shards of decomposed stink flying from its coverless garbage. Several years ago, the Chief Minister of Delhi had made it mandatory for all garbage trucks to cover the waste with a canvas or a tarpaulin and to have more number of covered garbage trucks. But sadly enough, this isn’t the only promise that vanished into thin air. We can still see the trucks full of awful smelling garbage plying either uncovered or covered with a tattered polythene sheet or few sacks.

Uncovered garbage truck

The problem doesn’t end here only. Walk down the roads of any colony and one common sight is either the overflowed garbage bin or huge area of spilled rags, attracting the stray dogs, pigs, scavengers, mosquitoes.etc.

Spilled garbage on the road

It was said that there will be a pair of dustbin of different colors so that the garbage can be segregated into bio-degradable & non-degradable stuff and dumped accordingly. We can see these dustbins at some places but it remains questionable about the rate of their success. The lack of awareness is one of the major reasons for this.

The problem is that the civic body creates rules but hardly does anything to follow those rules or they make sure they are followed. The Kuda wala’s who come to our doorstep they also do not segregate the degradable and non-degradable stuff. In fact even if we keep them separate, they mix those and dump at the same place. Nobody is there to get hold of these people creating mess like overcharging, not collecting garbage from houses on regular basis and so on.

When we do not like litters inside our house then we should also make sure the surrounding of our house is clean. It is our civic and moral responsibility to maintain cleanliness both inside and outside the house. In fact if we can be conscientious to stop others from making our surrounding dirty, it will be easier for us to maintain cleanliness.

Charity begins at home. So if we the readers of this article start the practice and encourage other, which I am sure most of us will, then many others will also join us. Why not live in a beautiful and clean city & be proud of it, rather than regretting upon the fact that the city is dirty and we have to live with it. Let’s own this city for once.

Click to enlarge

Diwali wishes to all the readers of the Weconscious.

Diwali - the Festival of Lights

Diwali is a festival of prayers to Lakshmiji and Ganeshji, sweet and celebration of festivity with diyas and candles. One more thing that is a synonym with Diwali is crackers.

The festivity with crackers during the global warming damages our environment and increases the pollution in a single night manifold. In addition to the pollution of air, sound and the environment damages us for long term.

The pollution from crackers is something that effects the environment but affects the individuals to quite an extent. Ask those who suffer from heart ailments or the people suffering from asthma. The noise pollution affects almost everyone. The harmful gases & the loud noise that the crackers emanate not only affect human beings but adversely affects also the animals and birds.

With this article we do not intend to hurt the religious feeling of any one. It’s just that we want each one of us to be aware of the disadvantages of the crackers and it’s ill effect on us.

Lets make a point and celebrate a Bright, Green and Calm Diwali. Lets say no to Crackers.

We have listed a few reasons of not to use fireworks.

• It can cause serious injuries
• Generate noise and air pollution
• Pollution caused by fireworks creates a major problem for asthmatics, sick, old and animals
• It’s toxic

Happy Diwali and say no to CRACKERS.

Image: dhondusaxena

“Smoke reminds me of the fire & the damage it causes. It also reminds me of breathlessness & the pollution & the destruction. It reminds me of the chaos & fire alarms. It reminds…………of the never ending horror.” I always have this curiosity to know what does a smoker feel when he witnesses a fire breaking out & the smoke such fire emits, other than the smoke from his cigarette. I had the opportunity to ask the same question to one of my friends & he said “I feel bad to see a fire”. But he does not feel bad when smoke of the cigarette burns his pinkish lungs…….. (So very contradictory).

Smoking is a kind of addiction “A smoking addiction means a person has formed an uncontrollable dependence on cigarettes to the extent that quitting it would cause severe emotional, mental, or physical reactions.” Everyone knows that smoking is harmful and addictive, but few people realize just how risky and addictive it is. One in every 3 smokers, who do not quit the habit on time, eventually dies because of the addiction. On an average each smoker dies 10-15 years earlier than they would have died from other causes. The smoker smokes & chooses to die earlier than he might have lived voluntarily whereas a non-smoker in his company dies because of smoker’s choice. I wish such people could be charged under the IPC section 299 which talks about “Culpable homicide”. Second hand smoking or Passive smoking has been found to be more dangerous than active smoking. Passive smoking is involuntary inhalation of smoke from tobacco products. Approximately, 3,000 lung cancer deaths in each year have been reported due to passive smoking. In addition to deaths scientific evidence shows that exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes disease and disability as well.

The current ban on smoking, not only in the public but also in private, from 2nd October 2008 in Delhi has come as a relief to those passive smokers who had no choice but to suffer. I am sure if we are alert & aware all the non-smokers can join their hands to breathe in tobacco free air. Its our right to live & live in a clean environment. I know there’s varities of pollution in the air other than the tobacco, cleaning has to begin somewhere.

Forward this post so that others can also be benefited by this.