Its Dharavi all around

Dharavi… a name that evokes sympathy and awe as well, is a slum- largest in Asia and a subject matter of research, discussions, strategies  and a vote bank too.

Dharavi which houses people of all classes, professions and caste is but an unplanned development which lacks everything excluding burgeoning population. Sanitation and hygiene are perhaps a luxury and a distant dream for the residents of Dharavi but, why are we, the people residing in urbanized areas, ignoring the hygiene factor and also forgetting a civic responsibility that comes along with the development of a society?

Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack and Khurda to name are cities which are busy, buzzing with business activities in crores but are zero in maintenance of roads, drains and infact everything that has to be maintained.  An immediate argument that would come up is “it’s the municipality which has to manage, what do we do in this case?” the answer can be found in the questions that we can ask ourselves: are we not supposed to be keeping our surroundings, the roads and the environment clean enough to keep away malaria, dengue and swine flu that erupt as a reason of water logging, dumping of garbage and improper drainage? 

Check the overflowing drains or the open fields besides our houses, these are filled with garbage which we carelessly dispose off in the open- polythene sachets, packets and everything which can be disposed off are just flung into the open. Dustbins rarely used and cared for. If there is none in the colony, we care the least to install one by taking initiative.

We have this habit of complaining every now and then that government does not do this and the municipality doesn’t do that…but there is not one question that we have put onto our own selves about what we should have done and what have we been doing?

Just think of the road with crater like holes harvesting rain water and the beautiful overflowing sewage outlets which find their way into the so called civilized world’s arterial roads and just think of the traffic jam’s that happen as a result of these water logging. News channels and we alike keep highlighting the fact that life has become a hell for common man but what steps have we taken till date? 

Oh yes! We have taken steps and measures to block the channels which are meant for free flow of waste water by disposing wastes (read it as dumping) in an uncivilized manner, by using polythene which is banned and is a harmful for the bio that we are surrounded by, we spit, we pee and we do everything that can make a rationale person feel that he/she is living in a slum and not in an urban area, in comfort!  

After all this, we expect the municipality to clean and keep our streets, roads and the environment clean for whatever we liter around and spoil! A municipality is there, in common understanding, for the maintenance of the infrastructure that we call as society but that does not mean we can throw garbage unsystematically onto the road that we travel and curse the municipality for not maintaining it.

How many times have we, the commoners, taken up the task of maintaining a dust bin for all the houses on the street we live in and how many times have we tried to plant the trees or weed out the unwanted growth around them beyond our boundaries?  Or rather, how many times have we reprimanded someone not to spit and stain red, the roads, the walls and every other concrete thing around us? There are so many issues which we, as a commoner can tackle but we do not, because we have the habit of being dependent on the services of others than our own. The moment we all realize that there is always a tag of self service similar to that of the tag in CCD or Pizza Hut, we can be assured of cleanliness and hygiene around us.

 A lack of moral responsibility on our part and a lack of civic sense, a lack of planning while constructing houses and a lack of proper sanitation are all a reason as to why we suffer. While the municipality has not been up to its mark in many of the cities, we too, are irresponsible and uncivilized in the way we live.

 Till the time we stop cursing and start doing something, its Dharavi all around!