HEART TO HEART (JAN 22, 2006 - Herald)
By Ethel Da Costa
More bite than bark!
Yup, and let's see some spanking and butt-bashing too, because if we
seriously don't enforce our laws -- with bite and a snarl -- then they
merely remain toothless tigers in a god-forsaken jungle. My mum is intent
on giving me reality checks. That no amount of writing will wake the people
of Goa to the truth. 'It's an 'I' population there,' she advises with
wisdom, 'so heartburn and acid attacks are only going to weaken your
system,' she claims, while the doctor grins all the way to the bank, and I
grimace in pain every time I let myself get tempted to add a dash of spice
to my steak. Incidentally, too much red meat is no good for the diet
either. Looks like we're counting our days for the stench to hit the face
and Goa will be left with no place to run. Come Monday, Panjim faces a
serious garbage crisis. With Curca showing the door and the shoe, the PWD
temporary sewerage treatment area saying this much and no more, and people
still refusing to learn how to segregate and compost their own garbage
wisely, the capital city is spiraling into garbage chaos, and soon the rest
of Goa. It's a shame that we can't take care of our own dirt and keep
looking to the government agencies to clean up our houses. Isn't education
and information supposed to equip and empower us to take our own decisions?
A group of concerned citizens met recently at Dona Paula to take stock of
the situation. Each one emphasized the need to create awareness, and to
pursue the goal with blood-hound intensity. Garbage reined number one
priority. So dump that plastic bag away and care for your environment.
Lesson No 1: Compost your own wet waste.
Let every colony and five star resorts do the same (and city hotels as
well). Resorts have enough land at their disposal (which otherwise
miraculously materializes during expansion plans). I'm appalled why our
hotshot five star resorts can't take care of their own waste? Why should
the city mechanisms be burdened with this? But can we learn to be
responsible and self-reliant? But of course, we can do it. Didn't our
grandfathers and grandmothers learn to survive in a world that didn't care
two hoots if Paris Hilton wore thongs and nothing else to a New York
Fashion Awards Party?
Lesson No 2: Can we look forward to a responsible Press in 'crisis solving,
solution seeking' rather than waste precious newsprint pointing fingers at
the system?
The Press should take the campaign to the masses and educate people on
garbage segregation. Empowerment is the buzzword. Because we've learnt that
all times its not about what the government can do for us, but what we can
do for ourselves that works best.
Lesson No 3: Take environment and garbage issues to our schools and colleges.
A younger, conscientious workforce can be built if we educate the younger
generation on the safe up-keep of our city and planet. Public campaigns on
composting and segregation can work best at city and village levels as
self-help groups get together to handle problems at their own levels.
Lesson No 4: Build pressure groups to ensure that the builders lobby
include parking areas and composting stations into building plans for their
residents.
More built up area adds pressure on cityscapes struggling to cope with
traffic, population, infrastructure and waste.
Lesson No 5: Respect the laws.
Remember they can bite too. Not everything can be bought for money. And if
everything else fails, go back to your villages and learn how to live with
Nature. And while you're learning to cope with your new avatar, make sure
you don't abuse the birds and the trees. I tell you, some people have to be
told simple things all the time.
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