Arise & Awake Citizens of Mluru, Stop Out-of-Town Street Vendors Litter our City

Arise & Awake Citizens of Mangaluru, Stop Out-of-Town Street Vendors Litter our City

Mangaluru : “Arise & Awake Citizens of Mangaluru-Stop Out-of-Town Street Vendors Litter our City”-I have mentioned the same quote in my last two articles, and I am saying it once again, since the ongoing of littering in our so called one of the “CLEANEST CITY OF INDIA” is being done ignorantly and deliberately, either by flower street vendors, vegetable & Fruits Street Vendors, and Old Clothes Street vendors- and the bad part is that, these vendors are not locals, but from out of town like Bagalkot, Chikmagalaur, Hassan, and surrounding areas. So the question asked “When would our administration officials stop these menace makers from creating garbage in the city, and when will they take action against them for their act”, is yet to be answered and the problem yet to be rectified.

Glad that PM Narendra Modi arrived to the City last month on a Saturday, if he had come on a Monday, he would have not only be happy but would have freaked out seeing the piles of old clothes/vegetable garbage around Town Hall, Mangaluru, which is right behind where he made his speech from Football Ground. Not only that he would have really felt “Bad & Sad” as to how could anyone abuse Swachh Bharath Abhiyan in such a filthy way. Oh well, PM Modiji- people are still ignorant when it comes to keeping their city and surroundings clean. While Mangaluru City Corporation has been nice to these street vendors who come from Bagalkote, Arsikere, Hassan and other parts of Karnataka, in allowing them to make business during the weekends in Mangaluru- but in returns while they go back they leave all the waste to be cleaned by the Pourakarmikas of Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd – and not only that take away the Swachh of Mangaluru.

And one group of these out of town street vendors are the ones who sell old clothes on every Sunday, and when they go back, piles of rejected clothes and other garbage are littered along the sides of Town Hall, and the poor Pourakarmikas will be seen sweeping and collecting the waste, and the garbage clearance trucks at some places attempting to carry out the herculean task of ridding the roads of the rotting garbage. But my question is that, why MCC employees have to clean up the mess left behind by the out of town street vendors? These street vendors are not even the citizens of Mangaluru. They don’t even pay City taxes. Then why is MCC not taking any action against these street vendors who leave behind a big mess, that Pourakarmikas have to clean up.

Regarding this issue, I had earlier contacted two NGO’s who care for the cleanliness of Mangaluru, and one NGO who is behind the Swachh Mangaluru Campaign sent a few volunteers on a Sunday, and they warned the vendors of their wrong doings, and left- that was a short term action by the volunteers, but my repeated requests to the NGO to solve this issue permanently is all in vain. Then yet another NGO, which cares for the pollution in the City obliging my request, sent a few their volunteers with a few garbage bags, gloves- and did some cleaning and made the street vendors also clean their mess- and the volunteers clicked a few selfies and a couple of pictures in front of their NGO banner ( in order to get a award for the work done) and that’s it. And after that every Monday, the piles of garbage is seen and nothing has been done to rectify it.

I had even contacted the Senior Manager at Antony Waste Company, and suggested an idea of stationing a smaller garbage pickup truck overnight on Sunday, so that the street vendors could dump the garbage into it, rather than litter all along the sides of Town Hall- I guess my request flew in the wind? Why is that our city administration taking this issue very easy and not serious. It’s about time that MCC looks into this situation, and warn these street vendors about their carelessness and ugliness, that is taking out the Swachh of Mangaluru- even though our City is judged as one of the Cleanest City in India. These Street vendors need to be blamed for the garbage-lined roads. Footpath vendors, mainly selling flowers/vegetables, would dispose of the waste wherever they set up business.

This is a never ending problem-When the vendors wind up for the day, they leave the garbage behind, spilling on the roads, inconveniencing the commuters and shopkeepers around the areas. The MCC officials have turned a blind eye towards the garbage created by these out of town street vendors. These vendors need to be warned, and fined if they leave behind garbage after their business. Of our many civic problems, we view the problem of visible filth on our streets as a behaviour and attitude problem that can be solved in our lifetime (or rather, this month). This can be achieved without spending money or changing legislation or systems. It requires coming up with smart ideas to change people’s rooted cultural behaviour and attitudes. And making sure those ideas work. And to make this happen we need public support in keeping the city clean, and we also need more volunteers.

It’s time to Arise and Awake- Let’s not keep quite- let’s appreciate the work done by Pourakarmikas, volunteers of NGO’s in the City and all others who are trying to keep Mangaluru clean. Hoping that at least this report will motivate the concerned authorities, and also the NGO’s to chalk out some plans in order to prevent the garbage pile up near Town hall-or ban these out of town street vendors to do business in the City. We need to learn manners of cleanliness, we need to join hands with MCC and other voluntary associations who are striving to keep this beautiful coastal city clean. Let’s not dirty it by our ignorance and dirty manners. MCC needs to educate these street vendors about cleanliness, and if they are still ignorant, punish them with hefty fines. Period.

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Also Read Related Articles :

• Swachh Abuse! Why is MCC allowing Out of Town Street Vendors to Dirty our Smart City?
• Spoiling Mluru’s Swachhata! Aftermath of Sunday’s Old Clothes Sale by Out-of-Town Street Vendors
• Arise, Awake Citizens of Mluru-Help Stop Out-of-Town Flower Vendors Dirty our City
• Out-of-Town Flower Vendors Leave a Mess- MCC Workers have to Clean It-But Why?
• Swachh Mangaluru’ Abuse! Street Flower Vendors made to Clean Up Their Own Mess