It’s been over five years now since I tried to shake up the people of Ziro and show them the droopy view of filth created by plastic materials et al at Ziro town through my article on “Ziro Mirror”. I expected that no one will take any action but I thought someone would come forward and prove me wrong. No one did.
At the moment, the drains are still choked with polythene bags, plastic bottles, wrappers and so on. And the people (races and communities – no bar) are still hurling trash in night at somebody else’s property to keep their yard clean. Migrant laborers and traders still pee on the roadside. Cattle, dogs, pigs, cars, poultry, motor bike and beautifully attired men, women and children still roam and share the same street and market place as ever.
The dumping ground is where you’ll see the most cattle frequent as if it is some kind of bars or night-clubs. Stray dogs are not too far behind in foraging for left-over in such locus, which sometimes become an excuse for feud between dogs and cattle. As a result, Dogs often dragged the scraps from the site and scatter it all over the road. Like human, the cattle too die ultimately after consuming too much polythene bags at these night-clubs. Many a times, I saw bloated dead animals on the road. Once, my friend told me about an incident during a festival when they had extracted a whole leather bag from the sacrificed Gayal’s stomach. I thought all cattle of Ziro town would die if they keep on visiting these night-clubs with their kids. On the contrary, lately, I have observed that the numbers of stray animals have actually increased. I wonder. It’s a wonder that despite the stubborn plastic and toxic waste they could still survive. Please don’t tell me that polythene bags are “VIAGRA” for cattle.
Does anyone know that the builders also lend a helping hand in beautification of Ziro town by jettisoning unwanted pebbles and sand on the road? Moreover, the contractors would choose only a rainy day to fill the potholes with soil – making the road as muddy as swamp. Why not sand or pebbles? Why soil? It is obvious that the contractors pay less money for soil. Thus, more money in the pocket of contractors. On a romantic day when rain pours, our town resembles a town in cowboy movie. Django, if I am not mistaken. Only the horses are missing. Oops! I forgot the cattle, we can’t ride it though. Where was I… yes, on rainy day when the rainwater cannot find its way to drain because it is being clogged by god damn non-biodegradable rubbish. The rainwater rules the road. This is when you can see the myriad things floating around – PANTENE shampoo container, LAYS chip wrapper, Pepsi and Coke bottles, Manikchand Pan Masala wrapper, even discarded underwear and bra, and so on.
Some people in my hometown implore for downpour as it would wash away all the dirt from their courtyard but I always laugh at it. You can never tell what it might bring in my front yard and backyard from others. Apart from polythene bags; used-condom, medicine container, half-sleeve pullover, rum & whiskey bottle (quarter size seems to be very popular), incandescent light bulb, etc. always flow into my property. So every morning and evening, I burn incense not for religious ceremony but to keep away the appalling smell.
God bestowed abundantly on Ziro. The landscape is awesome. Emerald mountains. Blue sky. Fresh gentle wind that chill us to the marrow. Lush forest and paddy fields, which is sadly decreasing rapidly. Our forefathers understood the importance and preserve it so that one day we may also reap the benefit. Look at our hometown now – another slum in the making. Wherever you go, you’ll not miss a trail left by human being. Can you imagine a beer bottle in the middle of a jungle?
We do not have a rich cultural heritage. Ask yourself – What sort of cultural heritage are you going to bequeath to your offspring? Poly vinyl culture? The offspring will not dig the earth to bury our dead bodies. Instead they’ll be sorting out the heaps of plastic from soil and they’ll say, “Look. What I’ve found, CD!” It is not too comforting to think of lying down with potato chips wrapper next to you in deathbed and kissing nappy pads. Isn’t it?
Most people I talked to regarding civic duties and poly bags, they say that the authorities and civil society have to initiate a program. Washing hands of sordid task, huh? For god’s sake, they alone are not littering the whole town. On the other, the authorities would say that the public have to cooperate. Washing hands again. Too much washing is not good. It’ll make the hand dry and creased. As a matter of fact, the common people don’t give a damn and so are the authorities. No need to waste your valuable time in pondering over how the layer of plastic has piled up. There is already a ban on poly bags at Ziro. It is just that the authorities do not monitor the violation and the public cannot say “NO” to poly bags as they are so used to it. They would even get enrage if the shopkeeper don’t hand them the stuff in poly bags. Great!
If a tourist of foreign origin can respect our motherland by adhering themselves to the civic responsibilities of their country, then why we are so incline in maligning it. Or are we waiting for somebody extra-terrestrial beings to do our job. Dream on! Keep laughing.
Once I asked my students, what they do with the poly bags in their house. How they get rid of it. “We burn them”, they told me. Quite logical. What alternatives do we have besides burning them? There’s no recycle plant. Rag pickers would take any scrap of metal without our permission, yet they would never touch the plastic even if I offer remuneration. Bloody stubborn plastics. So I told them that it is alright to buy things that come in plastic package but not to accept extra poly bags from shop. Hence, beginning of my cause – the “GREEN CLASS”.
So far I had conducted only five classes with seven standard students – one class in a week. And they are extremely enthusiastic about it. Now they are asking me to conduct additional classes. Since their summative exams are approaching very near, I have had to express my disapproval every time they plead for Green Class. I am happy; my students are supporting me at least. Now I realized that I was knocking at the wrong door.