Sir,
Waste Management indeed needs a behavioral change in our society. Detailed article by Dr Raja Muzaffar on July 16th has explained this issue in detail.
We want to keep our house clean because we have its ownership, but when it comes to our street,water body, irrigation canal, gali or an open plot located adjacent to our house, we don’t care at all. We never have developed a self of belonging towards our roads , water bodies or parks. That is why we clean our house , courtyard and then throw the trash on road side , water-body or into an open plot located in our mohalla or colony.
To get rid of these shabby habits we need to work a lot as these shameful acts have unfortunately become part of our life. I often see educated people throwing ice-cream wrapper out of car on the road side so casually. I feel this is a criminal act , but the person who does it takes it casually. The reason is littering is part of his / her behaviour. To control littering , open urination / defecation, unnecessary use of plastic / polythene needs lots of efforts. There is a great role of social and religious organizations in creating behavioral change in society. Authorities must allocate enough funds in this direction. Unless we change our behaviour , we won’t be able to achieve better results vis a vis waste management. I urge upon Rural Development Department (RDD) , Municipalities and educational institutions to work in this direction. Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities have to be rigorously put into action to create behavioral change.
I appeal Governor N N Vohra especially his Advisor B B Vyas to call a special meeting of all the stake holders like SMC, JMC , Urban Local Bodies , Rural Development Department , NGOs doing IEC work and formulate a state level plan on creating behavioral change with regard to management of solid waste in our towns , cities and villages
Dr Fozia Kouser
Lecturer Environmental Science, Srinagar
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