The importance of being “littered”

The earsplitting sound of cars honking in Kolkata’s summer heat seemed to merge with the loud song blaring though the speakers of the cab I waited impatiently in. I poked my head out of the window every now and then, willing the signal to turn green, and asking the cab driver to reduce the volume: “Dada please volume ta ektu koman (Sir, please turn down the volume).” No effect; none at all. And then, everything happened in the span of a fews seconds.

SPLAT!

A plastic takeaway cup from KFC barely missed my face, but succeded in creating a fancy pink pattern on the cab’s door before falling lifelessly on the street. I poked my head out of the cab with a strong purpose, but before i could react, the traffic lights changed color and my cab zoomed past the others. I was quivering with anger, but was not remotely surprised.

Littering the streets is nothing new in Kolkata. This incident took place when I found our school’s “Keep Calcutta Clean” walks alarmingly redundant. Somehow, after being a part of these campaigns for over a decade, I had developed a very strong opinion about people who litter the streets. Initially, I thought my opinion sprang from the deep anger I felt every time I had to put on those plastic gloves and go out with the mission to clean the streets. However, I later realized that it was more than just that.

These campaigns had ingrained in me, a sense of civic responsibility..

When I moved to Bangalore, I found no difference in the littering department here. The locals here as well were littering the streets with full responsibility. “Moyla” (garbage in Bengali) had just become “kuppa” (garbage in Kannada).

 I have always found it difficult to believe that a developing country like India does not have an anti-littering law.  Nearly every street corner is piled with heaps of garbage. Finding garbage on the streets is not something that is exclusive in India alone. However, the difference between those countries and India is that India is in no position to fund the mass clean-up of the streets that are so heavily littered.

It is often assumed that the uneducated part of the society alone litter. I beg to differ here. The KFC cup that was flung towards me in Kolkata was thrown from a pretty expensive-looking car.

The reasons behind littering can either be lack of awareness about diseases that can spread because of the gunk found on the roads, or it can be attributed to lack of basic civic sense. Either way, it is shameful. It even seems as though people here are a little too dedicated towards littering the street rather than clearing them.

The only solution to this bizarre psyche of people, seems to be the establishment of an anti-littering law, which not only should extract a heavy fine, but also punish the offender severely. This alone can ensure hygienic and dirt-free streets in the near future. 

Times they are most definitely changing as, contrary to what children were once taught, cleanliness is no longer next to Godliness!