In the nineties, when a fairly large number of people lived in independent houses, I often found my neighbour throwing out vegetable peels from her kitchen window. Maybe it was inertia that prompted her to use the window, but the waste would accumulate in a small corner of a park in Hyderabad.

Reading this you would think her house was filthy, but surprisingly, this lady had one of the tidiest houses in the colony!

This is the general attitude of Indians, even though nowthe independent houses have been replaced by honeycombs which are fondly christened “apartments.”

Today, when the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is struggling to sort out the garbage crisis in Bangalore by making the segregation of garbage a mandate for every household, the response from the “lethargic” city has been very poor. Every citizen wants clean malls, metros and hospitals but doesn’t want to contribute to the process of cleaning a city.

Bangalore and other metropolitan cities have a seen a swarm of real estate companies construct a variety of fancy and posh apartments. People pledge their savings to own one small section of these ‘honeycombs’ but this is the same crowd who have neglected their natural sites of tourism and entertainment. Places like Marina Beach, the Taj Mahal, lakes and other places have lost their scenic charm as they have become vulnerable victims to human activities.

During my stay in Chennai, I remember observing the reckless behaviour of local citizens whom I consider responsible for killing the ambience of Elliots Beach and the Marina. The fading glow of the sand clearly goes to show that the citizens don’t believe in nurturing and caring for the environment around them.

Mandur residents, who are forced to part with their environmental hygiene at the cost of water, shows the selfish attitude of the urban committees run by our government. The city’s garbage gets dumped here in return for water, and Mandur is left to rot for the pleasure and sanity of the urban Bangalore.

Every Indian spends gallons of water cleaning the home, vehicles, clothes, deities and herself/himself on a daily basis but is lazy when it comes to cleaning the environment. She/he refuses to search for a bin, forgets to treat the public toilet as a personal one, treats the road like an open dustbin while travelling and sabotages the hygiene of public parks which are the “lungs” of a city.

If you ask me, this ignorant Indian needs to be warned of the long-term consequences of not protecting the environment. Fundamental rights come along with duties and if we aren’t willing to adhere to our duties it’s about time the system implements sterner guidelines.

(Sneha studied at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore.)

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