The proposal by Narendra Modi is indeed something to be admired and pursued. An act which all good minded Indians always want but are confused about how to achieve.
In fact taking a pledge, sweeping the offices and roads for the photographs, making children pick up up the garbage for a day or for that matter spending some millions of dollars on cleaning the Ganga is not at all the solution.
What we need is a concerted movement to first inform, educate and train the mindset of our people before we actually start cleaning up. For most people cleaning up means getting rid of the garbage. No doubt this is a priority but this is only one part of it. The habit of defecating on the road/rail side & in the open spaces, spitting in the corners of buildings, throwing garbage & even religious items such as idols, flowers, coconuts, plastic items in the sea and inland waterbodies are some of the practices that need to be looked into. Otherwise we are just wasting our time.
Bio-degradable garbage by itself is not at all a problem. It is such degradable items packed in plastic bags, tetrapacks, water bottles, coated paper plates and such non-biodegradables that pose a problem. We need to educate the unwary polluter about the consequences of such things.
Capt Eddie Viegas, Vasco
