Trash that dustbin, look for a vacant plot

Out of the bin

Got your house renovated and don’t want to pay for dumping debris and concrete? Had a party last night and want to dispose off emptied booze bottles?

Look around your locality and you are sure to find at least one vacant plot or an unused piece of land which is disputed, encroached upon or home to a demolished structure. All you need do then, is lug your garbage bag over and dump your waste here.

So what, if the vacant lot is adjacent to a temple wall; so what if it lies next to a neighbour’s house and so what if you don’t have the time to walk over to the municipality provided gar­b­a­ge dump which is a little furt­h­er up. Who has the time for hygiene and cleaniness? Most people in the colony just found a huge dustbin, which will fill up in several months. 

Delhiites know how to raise a stink. They certainly know how to make use of every inch of space available in their vic­i­n­ity – even if it is to fill it up wi­th garbage! Extra space means extra space to dump trash. Who wants to take the trouble of using a dustbin at home or paying a sweeper who will take the trash from home to a proper disposal place. 

Mind you, it is the same citizens who co­m­­plain about the governm­ent’s promises of providing a clean, green Delhi!  

Take for instance, the vacant DDA land next to Jhule Lal Temple near Lajpat Nagar bus stop on Ring Road where residents conveniently dump their waste. Vasudev Agrani, a tea vendor at a nearby stall shares, “There were 30-40 shops here but after they were demolished, this place has become a ruin. Residents treat it as a dumping ground.” 

The problem persists in Kasturba Niketan also where the location is even more prime.

The plot lies barely meters away from the Jal Vihar MCD office. The encroached land was cleared by the gover­n­ment and is now an open invitation for residents to dump garbage.

While most residents whose houses were demolished have relocated, Renu Grover and her family still awaits settlement of a court case for allotment of a new home. Meanwhile, they live on in a house surrounded by garbage. With young children to take care of, isn’t she worried about health hazards? Renu says, “What can I do? We clean as much as we can. If someone throws trash around here, I shout and fight with them. But what else can I do?” It isn’t just the residents but the shopkeepers also who dump their trash in this lot.

This callous attitude preva­ils everywhere. Take the case of Sector 19, B Block, Noida. The place was home to Sanjay Bal Vidyalaya but after its demolition in 2000, the piece of land has been spilling over. 

Sarang Chatterjee, a resident of this area since 1985 informs, “This land is a convenient dumping ground and on Saturdays there is a weekly bazaar that makes the place more filthy. Nobody objects to the dumping because the bazaar is easy on the pockets and residents are so nonchalant that they don’t pay heed when shouted at. In a week this place will be flooded with rain water and will become a breeding ground for diseases but who cares.” Neither residents, certainly not the RWA whose office is barely a few meters away. 

These instances are but representative of a menace prevalent across Delhi and NCR. Unless residents themselves take the initiative, there is little that the government agencies can do. The solution, we guess, lies in looking within and not outside.