Tell tale picture and story : Relieving in public space
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 24 2015 -
The picture should say it all.
Yes the picture that accompanied the story ‘No change even after 1 year of Swachh Bharat’ datelined October 22.
There were other pictures too that told the story of how filthily dirty Imphal is but it was decided to go along with the picture that was published for there were certain pictures that did not seem appropriate for publication in a newspaper for the whole family.
Just to come to the point, of the numerous pictures that told the story of how dirty and unhygienic Imphal has become, there were some pictures that clearly depicted some ‘gentlemen’ relieving themselves in the open.
The pictures were of course taken from the backside and were thus not that offensive but keeping in mind the sensibility of the readers those pictures were looked over.
The story was about the failure of the Government to make the place cleaner and more hygienic and while the Government certainly has a duty to implement certain measures to make the place cleaner and more hygienic it also goes without saying that the failure of Swachh Bharat Mission has got a lot do with the mentality of the people.
The mentality that refuses to move beyond one’s immediate property.
Take a look around and it should be more than obvious. Keeping the place clean has never meant keeping the locality clean but more about dumping wastes and garbage collected from one’s house on the roadsides.
This is the fact and this is why people do not mind relieving themselves on the roadside but would never do that on their court yard.
It is this mentality that has resulted in the clogged drains and the piling garbage all over the place.
Anything regarded as public places have thus become big dumping grounds and the roads and streets of Imphal should testify this. The same must be true with the other towns in Manipur.
This is another reason why public toilets in Manipur are nothing more than spaces to litter them with human excreta strewn all over the place.
A few years back, The Sangai Express carried a news story along with the damning photograph of how the inaugurated but yet to function Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) has been turned into one big toilet with human excreta strewn all over the place.
Nothing to suggest that things may have improved but this says something significant about the mentality of the people.
The Government too need to keep in mind that it was with a purpose that the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched last year.
That it was launched on October 2, the day Gandhiji was born, should make it more meaningful.
For too long the people have been taking anything that is regarded as public space for granted and the Government should ensure that hefty fines are imposed on anyone found littering public spaces.
Time to make it clear that public spaces are not toilets or dumping grounds.
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