Recently I came across a powerful and striking message displayed on a roadside board which read “What is the point of Education if you still throw garbage on the streets to be ultimately picked up by an uneducated person?” The words may sound harsh, but they carry a truth that society desperately needs to hear.
In recent years, the growing presence of garbage on our streets has become a matter of public concern. Overflowing bins, littered pavements and the careless disposal of plastic waste, point to a larger issue of our collective disregard for civic responsibility. Why is garbage still lying on the road when dustbins are just a few steps away?
Why does our district still struggle to stay clean? Who are responsible for this? It is us. The public. The system doesn’t work but the truth is we are responsible for the mess we see everyday.
Every plastic bottle thrown out from the car windows, every paper cup left on a footpath, every bit of waste we drop without thinking it adds up to the garbage we complain about later.
While it is convenient to blame the authorities, we must introspect and acknowledge that the problem begins with us. Every wrapper thrown from the vehicle, every plastic cup left behind after a function, and roadside dump is a conscious act by an individual. We often speak proudly (sometimes with a forked tongue) about campaigns and numerous cleanliness drives which reminds us about maintaining Hygiene in public spaces.
Local Initiatives such as Swachh Kodagu Abiyaan, Clean Coorg Initiative, COHERA (The Coorg Hotels and Resorts association) has stepped forward to remind everyone that protecting Kodagu’s environment is not a seasonal task, but an everyday responsibility. These campaigns serve as reminder of our duty as citizens, not as substitutes for basic civic discipline. Yet despite all these efforts, our streets continue to tell a different story. Plastic bottles , food wrappers and piles of garbage appear almost immediately after the drive ends. This raises a troubling question. What is the real value of education if people casually throw garbage on the streets, leaving someone else to clean up the mess – if at all?
We need to bring back something simple to drive home the basic civic sense. It should be taught from childhood. Teach your children not alphabets and numbers alone, but teach the value of clean environment. Teach them to respect to the roads they walk on the parks they play in, the rivers that give them life. Because today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens. Let us not wait to someone else to clean our District. Let us start from today, from our Home, from our street Because a clean country begins with us.
