Civic non-sense

And why not? After all,education springs in discussion and that’s how it is supposed to be. Cut and pan to these coffee kiosks and restaurants and one can see a thing starkly common between all of them – irrespective of their area or location – heaps of used plastic cups,tissue papers,cigarette packs and plastic bottles adorn the roads from both sides. It’s a sight to behold. Among heavy intellectual debates on state policies,the city’s youth have increasingly been neglecting the need to be sensitive to their surroundings.

Shares Anjali Mehra,a mass communication student who came to the city from Nagpur,” I find it very ironic. You see these places are all packaged for students,so it should be cleaner considering that these are educated young men and women,but it doesn’t work that way. Most of them litter around and later join in debates criticising civic agencies.” As one moves around areas like Fergusson College Road,Jungli Maharaj Road or even Model Colony the picture is the same. Most of these shops provide for dustbins or waste disposing places,but are not used extensively.

And with the city being ranked a dismal 65 th under the cleanliness and sanitation standards by the Union Urban Development Ministry,waste disposal has become a matter of serious concern. What is ironic though is that the youth who are actually more sensitive and prudent behave in this manner. In fact Pune boasts of a large number of youth centric organisations who are into environmental sensitive work. Preet Solanki,founder member,Crossbow Club Foundation,which is one such group says,” I think the youth today is more involved in looking at the bigger picture like career,financial security,what we lack in general is the sense of social responsibility.” Varun Bhatia,owner of one such coffee shop in Kothrud says,” I have stopped giving paper napkins unless asked for because otherwise there is unnecessary littering by the people who come over.” In fact this is a woe that many such owners share. Educated people travelling in luxury cars do not fail to lower their window and throw the garbage outside. Even ice cream shops see sticks and cups lying around and in most cases the dustbins lie unused.

“I don’t quite agree to the fact that students are not aware,its just that a lot of these places do not have the primary requirement fulfilled- there are no dustbins in place,where will we throw litter? You can’t expect everyone to walk 200 metres or even more in search of a bin. I think there should be proper arrangements made by the authorities,” says Saurabh Jain,a CA student who just moved to Pune. Echoing the same plea Amey Jagtap who is a member of Youth to Youth,an activism group,says,” I agree that there is a lack of civic sense in the students but the work done from the PMC side is also not very good. In fact,one can hardly see PMC dustbins on the road,and even if they are there,mostly they are flooded with garbage,with a stench burrowing across the particular street. “