The ‘Swachh Bharat’ (Clean India) campaign started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have gained momentum and inspired a lot of people back home.

Every other day we see a film star or politician caught on camera wielding a massive broom, surrounded by a sea of faces who seem to find the sight riveting. As the saying goes, new brooms sweep clean. So, I wonder how long this will last.

What I would like to see is ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures of that stretch of road. Was it strewn with litter or was it pristine to start with? Merely flicking a broom over a small patch is hardly a clean-up effort. Will there be any follow-up?

The photo opportunity will have immense impact, but what about the long-term effect on the road itself? The exercise brings to mind a pertinent question. Why do we have to be made aware of the importance of keeping our surroundings clean? Shouldn’t hygiene be ingrained in every one of us until a glimpse of all the rubbish on the streets and thrown next to bins offends us so much that we refuse to tolerate the situation? In a country where recycling is a way of life, why are we so forgiving or tolerant of what should be repugnant to every sense?

Excuses of overpopulation and lack of disposal facilities are offered, but I don’t buy these. Not keeping our environs clean stems from a sheer disregard for others. So, while you may keep your homes clean, you might not hesitate to discard something from your car or while walking down a street. That empty crisp packet or fizzy drink can is thrown out, without a second thought, and you are relieved to be rid of that ‘burden’. How much time and effort would be wasted carrying that now-useless object to a place where it can be safely disposed of! Keeping it with you for a little while longer is not going to cause you any bodily harm.

After living away from home for some years and seeing how cleanliness is definitely possible, the sight of dirty roads, overflowing bins and railway tracks strewn with discarded disposables and worse, are an affront to the senses. One often sees urchins collecting plastic glasses and plates from the tracks to earn some money from scrap. That’s when you tell yourself that the next time you travel, you will carry your own cutlery and crockery whose origins you can vouch for. Of course, even as you think this, you keep your fingers crossed. You can never be sure any more of where things come from.

More convenient

In some cities in India, they have even started segregation of waste. I watch in wonder as friends and family carefully dispose of matter according to the material it is made of. And then I hear someone say they’ve stopped the practice because it is an exercise in futility. Apparently, the bags that are left outside to be picked up by the waste disposal staff are emptied into a common receptacle as the workers find it more convenient. So, all that hard work is in vain.

There are many readers’ letters in local publications addressing the same problem of a lack of civic sense. In a country where municipal staff are always on the go, it is a matter of shame that some residents can be so cavalier in their attitude, so sure that someone will pick up after them.

In the building where I live in Dubai, there are notices put up on not encroaching on common spaces such as corridors. Yet, I see bicycles left outside with impunity. I would like to make a suggestion to Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority. Install parking meters in these areas. All those cycles will be hauled inside in a jiffy.

Often, it is only the fear of fines that acts as a deterrent.