Aftermath of Flower Show! Kadri Park Road Reeks with Scattered Trash
Mangaluru: The Monday morning after the Flower Show that ended on Sunday night, the entire stretch of Kadri Park Road reeks with scattered/mounds of garbage left behind by ignorant crowd, thereby abusing the “Swachh Bharath” Campaign which our PM Narendra Modi had launched. It is unbelievable to see the entire area is littered. Inefficient waste disposal may be one of the biggest drawbacks of organizing big events this one in Mangaluru. A look at the entire area after the conclusion of the annual flower and horticulture show, is a case in point. Suppose to be ‘Clean’ City, Kudla Turns into ‘Trash’ after ‘Flower Show?
We all Love the Big events happening Mangaluru-since many of them are Traditional, Fun, Colorful- but the Mess that is left behind by the spectators is NOT Traditional, Fun, and Colorful? For example, The Mangalore Dasara, Various Marathons etc -the amount of trash that was left behind along the route of the Dasara procession/marathons was unimaginable- and the Poor Pourakarmikas of Antony Waste Disposal hired by MCC had to toil hard to clean up all Mess. So whom we have to blame for all this-First, the organizers/City authorities for not providing garbage when they had allowed street vendors to do business; secondly, the spectators for being ignorant and throwing garbage all over. Next time such kind of event takes place, either MCC bans street vendors or provide enough garbage bins.
Everyone learns by their past mistakes, but SURELY NOT in the case of Mangaluru City Corporation. Even after they had experienced such garbage littering issues in the past after mega events, still they are reluctant in providing necessary garbage bins, so that garbage is not scattered all over- and workers don’t have to feel the brunt of it. Even though Mangaluru is proud enough to say it is a “Smart City”, but is surely lacking of “Smart Officials” at the helm of it. Like one of our reader Sheik had posted his comments on our website blog saying, “I was repeatedly saying this city is “Smart City” without “Smart People”-Despite being highest literacy this city seems to have lack of civic sense. Cleanliness reflects the mind. This is the same reason they can’t elect ‘WISE” politician from the last 25 years. Jai Hind!
Featured as one of the cleanest city in India- our educational coastal town, once again turned into a trash can after the flower show. It seemed like a cyclone had hit the city, with trash scattered all over 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. Huge amount of paper and plastic waste marked the entire stretch of Kadri Park Road where the stalls had been. Stray animals and crows scavenged on leftovers. Imagine placing a small bucket for garbage disposal near a sugar cane Juice stall running for hours? Authorities should slap fines if cleanliness is not maintained after winding up, but that’s not happening and probably won’t happen?
People should know that festivals/events are no reason for littering a public place. They should understand at some point that they must preserve the standards of the festival, the great coastal city and its landmarks. Hope this blatant disregard to the Swachh Bharath/Mangaluru is not an annual feature anymore. While citizens are blaming on the organizers and MCC, while some said that a ban on food vendors is the only way out, some others said people travelling from other cities are to be blamed for creating this mess. Oh well, whatever it could, it was simply mess out there- an unbelievable mess? This morning the daily morning walkers were feeling the brunt of this mess, who had to be careful so that they don’t step on the garbage.
Mounds of flower and fruits rotting on the street corners, and unsold perishables were also dumped by roadside hawkers and pushcarts, which gave extra work for these laborers. The entire road were strewn with trash, from plastic bags, empty water bottles, snacks wrappers, fruits waste, corn husks etc etc. One lady worker doing her cleaning job speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “Citizens don’t have any pity on us. Every time a festival or a marathon/run takes place, we are left with all the trash to clean up. These people enjoy, and we have to suffer. It almost seems that sanitation workers don’t have festivals. People celebrate the festivals/events and the next morning we fore go our holidays to clear their mess, and yet we are ill-treated by everyone,”.
I don’t know 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) and mostly all educated for disrespecting the cleanliness awareness drive “Swachh Bharath” or “Namma Mangaluru, Swachha Mangaluru” campaign. Is this what “Clean India” campaign that we are looking forward to, that too being educated citizens of India, where Mangaluru is considered as the Education hub. Can’t we learn from our past mistakes? If we think that there are people to clean our mess, then why even practice or observe “Swachh Bharath” campaign.
In conclusion, if our citizens can’t keep their surroundings clean, and 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”!-If not PM Modi’s “Swachh Bharath” will NOT be his dream come true! Let’s work together and see that we keep our surroundings clean. Remember we should learn from our mistakes to change, and not continuing our old habits. And let’s remember to make “Namma Mangaluru, Swachha Mangaluru!”. One humble request to MCC, next time an even like this takes place, please provide enough garbage bins- and clean the bins every now and then-then only we can avoid a huge garbage pile up after the event.
- Suppose to be ‘Clean’ City, Kudla Turns into ‘Trash’ after Mangaluru Dasara?
- Marathon Runners make a Mess- Ramakrishna Math Volunteers Clean It?
Appears from the scenes pictured above, there was lack of organisation and scant respect for hygiene. For such a good event, the municipal workers or NGOs should have been involved to keep the place clean. This is tarnishing the upcoming smart city’s reputation.