Wednesday, September 26, 2007

God’s own Country ???

Kerala is known as God’s own Country. Keraliets are far forward in many modern life amenities compared to other states of India. The per capita availability of houses with latrines facility is highest in Kerala.In the usage of modern amenities like Computer and mobile phone , Kerala adorns the highest position. In the case of education , literacy rate and hygiene also Kerala is on top order. A day without bath is unimaginable for each and every Keraliet.

But unfortunately this individual hygiene followed by each Keraliet is not seen in keeping the surroundings clean. Many contagious diseases spread due to this negligence. Most of the streets and towns of Kerala are found to be blessed with Everest of wastes. Wastes from butchingyards, hotels and even from houses are put in sacks or plastic carry bags and thrown to rivers,ponds,lakes ,empty lands and even in drainages. Wastes from factories, hospitals and public comfort stations are found to be reaching directly into drainages. The outlets of many comfort stations of Kerala are opened to drainages which finally reach rivers. Also most of our roadsides are adorned with plastic flags, flex boards, plastic covers and cups.

Recently the health and Medicare wastes are also found to be carelessly disposed at public places. Used syringes from hospitals and clinics are abundant in these wastes. The railway tracks and stations seem to be the dumping yard of plastic bottle and cups. A recent news of disposal of septic tank wastes into rivers and lakes was really a shameful news to all Keraliets.

So it is high time to think about the eradication of these bad habits. Some ways are listed below.

(i) A number of scientific methods are there for waste disposal. Composting, gasification, biogas plants and incinerators are different methods of waste management. We have to adopt any of these methods as far as possible.

(ii) Nowadays anyone can post wastes anywhere at anytime. Hence total removal of waste is always a headache. There should be a proper scheme and plan for waste disposal and removal.

(iii) Disposal of waste in public places and water resources should be banned by law. The violation of the law should be treated as criminal case since it leads to social health hazards. Heavy and model punishment should be given in these cases.

(iv) All plastic wastes from a source (for eg: a house) should be gathered in their own premises and collected by local self government or any other body for disposal, at least weekly.

(v) Apartments , hotels, hospitals auditoriums etc should have their own waste management systems. No relaxation in rule should be allowed under any circumstance.

(vi) Strict and best methods of waste collection must be followed at bus stations and railway stations. Overflowing bins as like today should be strictly abolished.


So let us stretch our hands to remove the burden of waste, starting from our home itself. All readers are requested to put the waste of home in a bin and empty it regularly at a fixed place from today onwards to make this world a beautiful one.