By Shazia Azmat
The human olfactory system does not have a bypass mechanism and feeds information directly to the frontal cortex. This system has the capacity to identify and store over trillions of stimuli so it must be a tragic experience if the only one you can store for decades is the smell of garbage. On my way to work, everyday I pass by multiple municipal “trash pick/drop-off” stations — every one of them qualifies more as a dump than a place where trash can be separated and sent to different locations to be processed. Every day, I see a woman sitting next to one such trash facility selling chips, tobacco, and other small items and every day I wonder how she stands the smell and goes about her business. Did she choose this place? If she did, did the trash storage area already exist and or was it built after she set up shop?
I supposed the reason does not matter since she is not alone in this struggle. All over Delhi, there are probably hundreds of municipal trash areas that are not sufficiently managed or are not managed at all. These areas are a breeding ground for disease, emanating a stench that burns up your lungs. These areas were built to help the neighbourhood remain clean, a way to make collecting trash more streamlined. These areas were a step towards development but the place is slowly turning into a plague that represents not the state of our nation but how one aspect of a broken system can disrupt others.
This trash clogs up the drains and makes citizens like you and me wait in traffic for hours on our way to work. When it is burnt, the smell seeps into our neighbourhoods and makes the toxic air even more dangerous to breathe. It is not simply garbage at this point but an insult to our collective right to live in this city. We do not pay taxes so that the trash is gone from our house and dumped on the road. We pay our taxes so that the municipality can separate this trash and develop sustainable ways of processing, recycling, and treating it.
Unfortunately, the word municipal implies that these areas are under the authority of the government and whether that is convenient or tragic, we will never understand. It is convenient because it automatically shifts all blame to the “safai karamcharis” who work with no safety equipment and are very clearly exploited because they are not paid the accurate compensation for their services. Without equipment, the karamchari can blame the government and the government can find some other entity to blame — that perhaps is what makes the situation tragic.
But let’s say that tomorrow I take a photo, tag the local municipal leader and get these areas cleaned. Where exactly is this trash going ? At that point, the dry and wet trash have already been mixed together to create a toxic mix and separating them is a task no one is willing to invest in. Will this newly collected trash also make it to Mount Vikaas in Ghazipur or perhaps it will go to a new location, where we can inaugurate another mountain of trash and this time call it, Mount Viksit.
The city of Delhi is centuries old, countless rulers have tried to claim it and none of them have lasted a long time. In the 21st century, I fear, this city won’t be claimed by another ruling party but the trash that keeps on collecting. People in this city are trapped amongst all this trash and the government appears to be, well, waiting for a sign from Lord Almighty to take any action that might benefit this city. Delhiites have moved past living a normal life — all we do now is endure and tolerate.
The writer works in sustainability advising
