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Written by: Khursheed Ahamd-Chairman Muncipal Commite Bandipora

Category: ENVIRONMENT

Published: 09 November 2018

BANDIPORA: Every faith and civilisation stresses the importance of cleanliness. Historically, cleanliness has been considered one of the important factors by which to judge a civilisation’s or society’s development. Though, i got this opportunity to write something about our environment which  is passing through a critical phase of deterioration, as  our rivers are increasingly polluted, by now  it comes to our mind that whether we will be able to clean them up or not . However humble it may sound. How do we even begin to think about equipping  households with toilets ? How do you go about changing the mindset of  people whose pre-dominant view of cleanliness is to push all the dirt out of the home and into the public space?

Yes, We are lacking in access to sanitation, flush the shit and don’t know where it goes. Only small parts of our town have underground sewerage and all the treated or untreated water finally finds its way into our water bodies and rivers and finally to the shrinking "Wullar Lake". Throwing garbage in the streets, roads or parks has become a common practice in our society. While as dustbins are seldom found. Even if dustbins are installed, people do not use them properly.  It is evident that even  elite class throw garbage on the ground even in the presence of garbage bins. This shows our attitude towards cleanliness and hygiene.

The affordable solution lies in making people aware about the situation, as  the years passed by and we continued to see the open piles of stinking garbage and clogged drains in our district  and other  towns and along the highway and byways throughout the B'pora, not only me but I believe  you to  assumed that various central sponsored schemes are just  zombie schemes. 

The fault not only lies upto these government  institutions,  but we too are responsible being  a responsible denizens, One who spends more than a crore on constructing house never bothers to construct Septic tank and Soakage pit for his own use at least. The night-soil is put to surface drain with this hope that Muncipal Committee workers will take care of it. The mindset of the people can be changed only through environmental education. 

Much is said rhetorically about cleanliness in our society but practically its application is missing. A quick observation can reveal how insensitive a culture we have developed regarding cleanliness and hygiene, we have become increasingly vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters.The component responsible for the lack of cleanliness here: is our civic and public consciousness. In terms of our civic function, there is a bit of a paradox in operation: while we keep our homes and habitats clean and even sanitized, we have no qualms in dumping waste on the roadside or even at times in front of our neighbours’ door steps, one would imagine that the situation is better in places where there is a functional sewage system. Unfortunately, because of the lack of capacity of sewage systems, manual scavengers are routinely used by the government to enter the sewage system . The result of this factor, added up, leads to an unclean and an unhygienic city.This has public health, sanitation and aesthetic consequences. 

It is obvious that unclean surroundings lead to health issues and attract kinds of animals- stray dogs, rodents and assorted pests- that redound negatively to public health .To solve all these failures, Bandipora needs a proper  management system and a cooperation of general public , and not a single one, but multiple kinds of waste management systems to deal with local conditions. Defecation is not a problem only when it’s in the open.  Unclean surroundings also clog our sanitation systems and this then adds a layer to the extant conditions.  Untreated waste handled by humans without safety gear leads to fatalities, and when dumped in rivers,  increases infant mortality, reduces life expectancy, and overall health outcomes.

To safeguard this, our town is in  need  to safeguard it's   pristine glory, in terms of cleanliness,  Islam places great emphasis on cleanliness and purity, both physically and spiritually. In Islam, spiritual purity is linked to physical cleanliness and purity. More importantly, cleanliness is termed an indispensable fundamental of faith,  if our religion enjoins cleanliness and if we diligently and vigorously follow other religious obligations, why are we remiss in this aspect? Let us make a firm resolve and strive to make our Bandipora clean, green and attractive again.