Aftermath of CAA/NRC Protest! Road Stretch from Kannur-Adyar Totally TRASHED
Mangaluru : Yes, everyone wants to have a Protest, Rally, Political Gathering, Fest etc but the Mess that is left behind by the crowd/people is unimaginable- whether the vent took place at Nehru Maidan or at any other location. Whom are we to blame for all this Mess. First and foremost, we need to blame the organizers for not providing garbage bins/dumpsters when they had allowed street vendors to do business or provided the people with free packaged water or snacks at the vent; and Secondly, the people for not using their common sense, being ignorant and littering all over. The images that you are going to see in this report is the just the ‘OPPOSITE OF SWACHH BHARATH?’.
Celebrations, festivities and for that matter, PROTESTS/POLITICAL GATHERING often lead to a sad ending. And the just concluded PEACEFUL PROTEST against CAA and NRC at Shah Ground, Kannur/Adyar has left behind tonnes of garbage, especially plastic water bottles littered all along the Highway, and with the speeding vehicles plying on this Highway, the garbage is flying all over – and may even reach the nearby Nethravathi river. If packaged water was distributed to the protesters, the organizers should have though of placing garbage bins along the road- but they didn’t, and now we see the whole stretch of Kannur-Adyar road polluted with trash. As bunch of Muslim Organizations organized the Peaceful Protest, where nearly one lakh people attended, but it robbed cleanliness from one of the country’s “CLEANEST CITY”.
Used Plastic water bottles, snacks wrappers, cardboard boxes, Ice Cream cups/wrappers, along with skin of fruits etc among other things is scattered along the Highway. Shouldn’t we preserve the cleanliness of our land? Then, what’s all this un-cleanliness and ignorance. When Mangaluru, which has won a few awards under the Swachh Bharat Mission, and also bagged the ‘Best City Under Solid Waste Management in India 2018’, and First City in Quality of Life in India, is now bereaved by this recklessness. Having trashed the area, with blatant disregard to the area. Sadly, to note that not even the third cleanest city in the country, and second cleanest city in Karnataka-Namma Kudla could save itself from the public litter that follows any festive celebration or Protest. People should know that festivals or Protests are no reason for littering a public place.
Whom to blame for this disgusting mess, whether to blame the organizers for not providing enough numbers of garbage bins/containers or the spectators (young and old) for disrespecting the cleanliness awareness drive “Swachh Bharath” or “Namma Mangaluru, Swachha Mangaluru” campaign. The only people who would be responsible to pick up the plastic water bottles, are the rag pickers, who have already started their job, to earn their living- and I bet no else will ever bother to clean up the mess along this stretch of the Highway.
In conclusion, if our people can’t keep their surroundings clean or ignore “Swachh Bharath Abhiyan”, how can we ever think of having a Clean India or Clean Mangaluru. We need to enforce strict laws and punish those who litter in the public, then only we can look forward
for “Swachh Bharath” and for that matter “Swachh Mangaluru”! Remember we should learn from our mistakes to change, and not continuing our old habits. Hope this blatant disregard to the Swachh Bharath happened during this Peaceful Protest will not be repeated at any other Protests or festiviteis?
