It is that time of year when migratory birds, tourists and non-resident Indians flock to the City of Joy and partake in our fleeting winter festivities. Indeed, Calcutta looks its festive best around this time, if not in the manner of Durga Puja then certainly in keeping with the Yuletide spirit. The 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival, which concluded yesterday, has earned accolades for the city at a time it is thronged by these visitors.
Walking along the spectacularly bedecked Park Street reveals a slice of Calcutta that is barely representative of most other localities grappling with existential concerns. With the sprucing up of the city in mind, the mayor announced stiff penalties for those found dumping garbage or littering the streets. Individuals littering a road will have to pay Rs 525 for the first offence, Rs 735 for the second time and for every subsequent offence, the fine will be Rs 1,050. But how will that be effective in a milieu where offenders are known to wriggle out of fines by greasing willing palms?
The Calcutta Municipal Corporation announced that from December, waste segregation would be introduced in all 144 wards. The practice is prevalent in only 27 wards thus far, and December-end was earmarked as the deadline for all households to be provided with two bins — one green (for biodegradable waste) and the other blue. The CMC was supposed to distribute 38 lakh buckets and bins of these colours for residents and at strategic locations in every ward to dissuade them from indulging in indiscriminate littering.
However, only a few councillors have assumed the task in earnest. While the residents of the Pallisree-Bansdroni locality were fortunate to have their representative, Arup Chakraborty, distribute bins to individual houses, a vast majority of wards are yet to initiate the programme, despite the imminent deadline. A random survey found wards 56, 75, 109 and many others untouched by any effort to implement the bin programme, while ward 81 has been initiated into this drive over a year ago. The CMC did organise workshops in late November to familiarise councillors with the drill, but that is yet to translate into any meaningful action.
Our locality, for instance, has garbage dumps on vacant land, including the surroundings of the ruling party’s club. Kali Puja was celebrated here with such pomp that a permanent wall was built to shield visiting dignitaries (the local councillor was the chief guest) from unsavoury visions of the canal that runs alongside. The non-performing councillor should perhaps take tips from Chakraborty, who told reporters that his objective was to interact with as many people as possible. “I started off early in the morning so that I could meet the rush of people headed to and from the market and talk to them about segregating waste according to their characteristics,” he said.
Debabrata Majumdar, the mayor-in-council member overseeing the CMC solid waste management department, said: “By the end of December, we can have segregated waste collection everywhere in Calcutta.” Is this a hollow promise or another failed deadline, given that the initiative has not made much headway yet?
Proper waste disposal is not only to ensure beautification of a city. Writing in this newspaper, the secretary of the Bengal Oncology Foundation, Gautam Mukhopadhyay, said: “Inadequate disposal of domestic waste can be associated with infectious diseases like malaria, dengue, viral fever or Japanese encephalitis. Intestinal infections like giardiasis are common.” He added that “waste disposal and illness should be high on the political agenda”.
If the spate of dengue deaths in this city is any indicator, we need to transcend our desultory CMC’s apathy and synchronise festive revelry with a New Year resolution to safeguard lives. Self-help, as the saying goes, is the best.
