The drains are choked with plastic bags and the river is polluted with household waste. A few months ago, garbage piled up behind Navelim Church was cleared following the intervention of locals and the sarpanch.
Recently, the people of Mandopa caught a youth while dumping garbage and made him clean the entire area. Now, garbage is being dumped at another location in the village. One can see people throwing plastic bags containing rubbish in the river.
This was not the case a few years ago when there were no apartments and rented rooms facilities in the village. People living in apartments and rented rooms have no garbage pits and hence resort to dumping garbage. This needs to be tackled seriously. Panchayats must install signboards cautioning citizens not to dump garbage and punishment, through fines, must be in place for violating norms. Panchayats must also make it mandatory for apartments and households to have garbage pits. Swachh Bharat campaigners must also visit cities, towns, villages and institutions.
