Mumbai monsoon, Mumbai rains - Do we ever learn ?
Monsoons are here finally and what a sigh of relief it means for all of us. Four years ago monsoons played havoc with us, Mumbai saw unprecedented rains, a cloud burst that has well gone into history, but we didn’t learn. Do we ever learn? For years now, we have been asked requested and warned, who else but the nature will play along so long patiently? We curse, then we blame and then we forget. We do not learn.
Four years that we had to do something about cleaning up our own act, we did nothing. We have not learnt. Mithi does not understand your language, Mithi is a slave courier. She runs and carries water out of your city promptly as she is supposed to do. But we also expect her to sort our nonsense?
We are the elite of Mumbai because we can write, we can shout and we can blame. How many of us have ever thought of the final consequence of that one small plastic bag? How many times this year, have you opened your air-conditioned car’s window and thrown an empty Uncle chips pack out? Your 8 year old is also educated to have heard of the perils.
Anyone who has adequate faculty to read and appreciate this, will, now honestly come forth and say, Yes, I do this every time? We all do this all the time all around the year and we expect Mithi to carry your garbage out? And you expect her to sort your garbage too?
The Arabian Sea laps gently all year around on your evening spots yet it has its own innate will and character. Why would it let your Garbage come into itself on a rainy and full tide day? Neither will Mithi do it, she is nature herself. We have to do something about this for certain.
We have an exceptionally imperative charge here, Let us clean up our own act before we blame. Is basic civil behaviour so tough to understand? The9000 Tone of garbage that we belch out every day will have to go and remain somewhere? What about the 16% non degradable part?
Who is accountable for this? The biggest problem with us, and please excuse me if I am directly addressing you all, is that we have never understood the meaning of accountability. Would we only understand if there is a penalty, a fine for littering?
I am very curious. As to why we still have no severe penalties for littering? Why can we not have patrolling on highways to apprehend and penalise people who throw garbage on the road? Why do we not have a mechanism which will enforce a civil code and watch out for residents who litter at will outside their houses?
Why can we not have social sanctions against offenders of this worst kind? This will only happen if we all clean up our own act and stop blaming the BMC squarely for it. Nature is smarter than us, Please believe. It isn’t stupid to accept all the mess that we create, it will retaliate. It does.
Get ready to have another 26/11 or worse, or start cleaning-up and start with yourself.
Do it now.
We have not inherited earth from our parents but we have borrowed it from our children!
Amod Deo
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