Radhika Raj Narayan 10:46 AM, November 22nd, 2009

Who is responsible for the pathetic state of cleanliness of our country? We are ever ready to blame the civic authorities. Are we not responsible too? We, the citizens are resposible for at least 50% of the problem. We see well-dressed men casually opening a 'gutkha' packet, emptying it into their mouths and flinging the wrapper on the street. Another equally fashionably dressed man stands at a busy street corner perusing a sheet of paper. When he is done, he tears it into pieces and scatters the pieces right there. The same person goes to Singapore and does not throw even a scrap of paper there. Why? I'll tell you why - Because he will be heavily fined there! And you can't bribe your way out of it! Just the other day, I came across a young girl, about 5-6 years old, with an empty packet of chips, that she was about to fling on the pavement right in front of me. I told her in Kannada - 'No, please don't throw it on the pavement'. The mother then tells her 'Puttaa, illi haaka baaradu, road koneyalli haaku' - and the child promptly threw it at the base of a tree, on the road (not on the pavement)! Of course, we are all too familiar with the unique phenomenon of men of all ages and social status, urinating against any available wall, spitting anywhere, even inside buildings, spattering staircases with pan-stained spittle, hawking and spitting on the street, and of course, people of all ages using pavements and railway tracks for defecating. Have we, as a nation, lost all sense of shame? We have self-styled brigades to 'preserve Indian culture against the decadent western influence', people who attack young couples showing affection publicly, who attack girls wearing western dress, even trousers or a sleeveless kameez, calling them 'shameless' to display affection in public or wear a sleeveless dress. These very people will then go across and urinate publicly, and litter the street with garbage. Indian culture? Why not form brigades that POLITELY but firmly tell people not to litter, spit , or urinate in public places? No one can do it alone, they'll be attacked by the person involved. But if there is a group of 5-10 people, NOT threatening, but courteously requesting them not to do it, it may work. It worked in China where they had children's brigades doing this and shaming the elders into compliance.

Pushpa Achanta 08:32 PM, November 23rd, 2009

Hello Radhika,

The following reports on a city wide campaign to Clean and Reclaim Bengaluru may interest you.

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/1273-clean-bengaluru-campaign
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/1285-clean-bengaluru-drive

B Dutta 11:53 PM, January 20th, 2010

Take HSR layout for example. It has nice homes. People keep their homes spick-and-span, but throw the garbage just outside their houses. The roadsides are always littered with garbage and plastics. It's quite perplexing.

I think citizens lack a sense of ownership towards the city. Once they start treating the city as their home, things would probably change.