Very interesting comments by Floriano and Bernice regarding Cleanliness. I feel that apart from few locals, many Indian tourists are the cause of littering/garbage in Goa maybe due to lack of bins, laziness or not bothered about the environment/surrounding. Many dont seem to have the basic instinct of cleanliness to our surroundings. In fact if one takes the initiative to pick up left over garbage as an example done by Floriano they would be laughed at. I too when I am down on holiday in Borivli find our colony littered with plastic/litter even tho all staying there are literates and keep their homes spotlessly clean and when I try to pick up some, I could be considered a fool or has nothing better to do.
Bernice too has rightly mentioned Dubai is spotlessly clean where there are Indians/Asians/Chinese etc. which I too have been to. The attitude of the same Indians there and same Indians back home is totally different. Abroad all of them have a very high sense of cleanliness while on return back home, they treat it as an open garbage yard, dump and discard litter, shit and piss anywhere. One of the reasons could be the high penalties imposed there or maybe even imprisonment or deportation. The same Indians abroad i.e. Europe, USA and other countries too will abide by all the rules in force and make sure that they discard litter in the right way. As regards Bernice's very interesting below suggestion, ================================= """"It is very very important that garbage trucks clear the junk in plastic bags regularly from very village or a fixed location in every part of the village. Have seen this work beautifully in Austria"""". ============================================= If accepted by the Government it would be ideal and a boon to Goa. However I doubt it as Govt will always say no funds or lack of funds. They seem to be having funds for other projects and the wrong priorities. We on our part too should do our bit in whatever way we can. When we go on picnics carrying utensils, food etc. we should make sure to carry litter bags assuming there may not be bins at the picnic spot so we could put litter into the bags and dispose of the same back home or in the right place. Companies/large hotels should also do their bit by way of sponsoring bins,(putting their names on them to advertise, and collect trash in their respective surrounding areas to keep them clean. Important picnic/tourist spots/beaches should have ample bins and the same cleared regularly so that tourists cant complain of lack of bins. Some time back had been to Dudhsagar falls where there are large boards saying no plastic bottles or no plastic inside the sanctuary and happily it was clean and no plastic found inside. However just outside near the entrance the place was full of plastic bags/bottles and strangely I did not find a bin there. Keeping our Goa clean is good for everyone. We all should do our bit and not expect others only to clean the thrash and keep Goa clean. Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 11:19:09 +0530 From: "floriano lobo" <[email protected]> To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <[email protected]> I have related this story at the NRI Convention at the Black Box, Kala Academy, Panjim, some years ago where CM Luizinho Faleiro was the Chief Guest. The story of my Alma Mater - St. Xavier's High School, Moira. That one fine day, I saw that it had snowed white in Moira, more specifically around the School. It was the 'BUDDY KA BAL' thin plastic wrappers all around. I go home and call the school wanting to talk to the HMistress. She is not in. I happen to talk to a peon who answers back as I am 'sir', meaning teacher. I tell this 'sir' [ who I go to hit when he accuses me of collecting trash from outside the school and bringing it in - he escapes, fortunately] about the snow and also instruct him that he should get the two peons to pick up the mess on immediate basis. This is around 1.00 p.m. The mess is still around the next day when the school is well in progress. I back up my car to my house [ 100 mtrs], pick up two large plastic bags, stop the car at the junction and pick up not only each and every wrapper but also any and every scrap of paper. The bags are full to the brim. I walk up to the school office asking for the HMistress. She or the Manager [Parish Priest] is not around. The Time is 10.30 - 11.00 a.m. I enter the teacher's room and two lady teachers are present. I introduce myself as the school's 1965 ex-student as ask permission to place the bags in the room. "These bags are for the HM and the Manager"."What is inside the bags is the 'education' that you are giving the students". "During my time" , I tell them, " we were taught not to tear up even question papers after exams and litter the roads but to take the papers home and burn them." There was an insignificant apology from the HMisteress after that and that is it. Today, I am keeping the area clean, all on my own, as seen in the picture. Because, as an ex-student of the SXC, what I have learnt is part of me and growing. And I have helped form an ALL GOAN INSTITUTION in GSRP to keep entire GOA stinking clean without much efforts, heartaches, without bleeding the treasury to send teams of MLAs and Ministers on holidays to Singapore, Japan and latest, Germany to study how to keep your own house clean. All that the Government of the day must do is be RESPONSIBLE towards it's duties and hold the citizens RESPONSIBLE for the cleanliness [whether they like it or not], after providing them enough faciliites to help them keep their neighbourhood clean at their own tax-paying costs. Cheers floriano goasuraj 9890470896 www.goasu-raj.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "Camillo Fernandes" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 2:01 AM Subject: [Goanet] Cleanliness - Tidyness abroad Ref. below comment by Eric, it is strange and shocking that many Indians including even educated ones dont seem to have a sense of cleanliness for the environment. They only seem to be very particular in keeping their homes absolutely clean but are not concerned about the environment. Even many Indians based abroad will follow all the rules and give utmost importance to cleanliness but the moment they come back to their homeland they forget about this sense of cleanliness and behave just like illiterates or slum dwellers. In Goa you will often find picnickers complaining about the filth left at picnic spots by others but they themselves would do the same thing- scatter their litter all over. It would have been so much nicer if only they carried litter bags to carry their litter back and dispose of in bins assuming there may not be bins at picnic spots/beaches. Contrast this to the attitude of foreigners who care for the environment and make sure that the place is always clean. We expect only the Government to do something about clearing litter forgetting that we too have a role to play no matter how small, in keeping the surrounding clean, and make sure that garbage/litter is disposed of in the right place. Some time back I was a witness to seeing a little foreign girl tourist maybe just 4 years or so of age. She had just had a chocolate and wanted to dispose of the wrapper but could not find a bin. She made sure to carry the wrapper in her little bag to dispose it in the right place. Camilo Fernandes From: eric pinto <[email protected]> To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: [Goanet] Tidyness abroad. ? ? ?In little towns, litter, rare, does get picked up. Harry Pickles, 75, retired Birmingham police officer, walks around Assagao with a long-handle tong and bag, picking up native thrash. ? ? ?eric. Camillo Fernandes camillofernandes at hotmail.com on Tue Sep 10 23:54:01 PDT 2013 wrote: ?Foreigners pick up brooms, to sweep Panaji streets. Where are the Goans ?? = ------------------------------ Message: 9 Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 09:19:19 +0200 From: "Bernice. " <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: [Goanet] Tidyness abroad Question that always bogs me is what is the cause of the dirty mess we create on the roads and environment in India. Dubai for example is teaming with Indians and Pakis. The roads metros etc. are spotlessly clean... more cleaner even than some European countries. Why can't these very same people keep follow these habits when they come to their own country. It is because the system allows them to be that way.. .nobody cares. If one lives in a messy environment around, one tends to also get messy. The garbage in Goa reaches unthinkable proportions during the season. It is very very important that garbage trucks clear the junk in plastic bags regularly from very village or a fixed location in every part of the village. Have seen this work beautifully in Austria. Bernice
