Why is India so filthy?

[Levina]

now babus have to submit photos (of before and after) as evidence along with the report of how many places they have cleaned

This is interesting!!

 

[Judge]

I have worked on Swach Bharat Campaign and also worked in the MCD for a while. On a Macro level A person getting a tender for up keeping a neighborhood has to warm pockets of many officials and the amount he is left with is not sufficient to manage the designated kachra place. I worked for few projects and tried to get few others but it's not economical but things are improving ... now babus have to submit photos (of before and after) as evidence along with the report of how many places they have cleaned

Fantastic!

 

[punit]

@Dillinger @sancho @Koovie @Water Car Engineer @COLDHEARTED AVIATOR @bloo @KRAIT @sandy_3126 @arp2041 @Sidak @levina @Echo_419 @RoYaL~GuJJaR @Roybot @kbd-raaf @sancho @he-man[/USER @Juggernautjatt @Indo-guy @IndoUS @IndoCarib



Let's keep the discussion constructive and not a d!ck measuring contest where we all hurl insults and call each other names.

India is filthy because our sense of hygiene and cleanliness is restricted within the boundary of individual home.
We wont mind throwing our garbage in streets and lack civic sense.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

It is all to do with mindset. Children should be brainwashed since childhood to be neat and clean.

Nothing can work.. My parents advised me not to ride cycle without holding, not to travel in buss/train footboards as it is dangerous.. Even spitting, we were inspired by how to cricketers spit on the field..
Finally I had did all these things for Macho... By seeing other adults doing it..
The entire community must have a mindset change for our future generations to follow

 

[Bilal9]

If this was a non-Desi forum then there would be discussion about how to resolve waste management issues and improving garbage transport logistics (appropriate technology). There would be sharing of tips on countering common obstacles along these topics. Instead we take much rejoicing in this forum in characterization and name calling. But I digress.

The whole subcontinent (not just India) is filthy because we Desis in this corner of the world lack the drive and the civic sense to set communal standards on how much trash we can put up with in our streets and immediate environment. Over population in urban areas of course makes it many times worse. 'Not my problem' seems to be the mantra.

The paragraph above is mundane but if we think about it, no population whose level of education is in our level has decided to tolerate so much garbage and filth as a society - and it is stark when you consider that at least India's GDP has doubled in the last few years, with nary an improvement in the trash collection scenario. Since India happens to be the model of appropriate technology in many socio-communal arenas, this leaves observers other smaller countries sort of in disarray.

• How many rickshaw vans do you need to clean up a neighborhood? There is never enough.
• Couldn't there be a hierarchy of garbage people with rickshaw vans, tuk tuk trash collectors and then actual garbage trucks? Who looks after how efficient these people are?
• Why are there never enough trash trucks in any subcontinental city?
• Why is garbage collection in the hands of corrupt mayors and city officials ?
• Why can't garbage collection be handed to private entities like in the West where they can run them much better?
• Why can't the biggest generators of trash be charged high rates accordingly (Fast food joints and markets) to keep up efficient collection ?
• With cities on the banks of large rivers (Kolkata and Dhaka come to mind) why can't trash dumping into the water be minimized?

Maybe too many questions - but we need to find answers to them.

Images copyright Tango Trikes


The last two images are Thai trash collection vehicles.

I think more than money - we need discipline. China has just as many people but they keep their cities way cleaner. And there is no comparison with countries like Singapore and Malaysia? How? We have not done enough bench-marking in this area to resolve these problems. Or at least I am not aware of it.

 

[bhagat]

 

[Azizam]

Actually only one. Sri Lanka. Rest are third world 'hellholes'(sic).

Bhutan is cleaner than Sri Lanka.

I've always said that this region has more priorities than to over over religion, race, cast, creed, political parties etc.

 

[Bilal9]

The population density of Bhutan is the lowest among all SAARC countries. Even considering that it is a remote hilly area with difficult access and scarce level land. Combine that with a benevolent dictatorship (sort of) and its easy to see why Bhutan is so clean. Maybe that's what we need more of - rigid enforcement.

Bhutan is cleaner than Sri Lanka.

I've always said that this region has more priorities than to over over religion, race, cast, creed, political parties etc.

I'm noticing a trend here. Along with the rise in education level - the level of filth and bad habits go down. Captain obvious I am. The literacy level in Sri Lanka is higher than most other SAARC countries.

 

[KingMamba]

As most moderaters are, otherwise the board goes to hell.
I think the post is valid, having seen how our folk treat our cities.

I'm not sure why you have bought other business into this thread, there is a dedicated section for this i.e. discussing moderation issues. But I'll answer your query anyway.

That thread that was deleted by myself, the trolling was originally started by a Pakistani member, this was after a bomb attack in India. How would you feel if that happened on a Pakistani thread? As for the other Indians, they didn't sink to the depths of that the two I banned. I also let one Pakistani guy go, whose greatest contribution to the thread was talking about how he has Indians cleaning his toilet and so forth, and you know what, Indian members complained that he should not have been let go. You will never see the huge number of anti Pakistan posts I get rid of, including the banning of members who love to take the piss out the fatherland i.e. pure land and so forth.

Back to topic, it's a case of being attacked from both sides. Now by one of my own people. If you don't consider me as one of your own, apologies in advance.

I really didn't expect this post from you Mamba, I thought we had good ties.

I tried to pm you but the pm system seems to have been altered.

 

[pakdefender]

people from west who now have to make trips to india due to many companies having moved businesses to cheap indian locations like banglore often fall sick when they travel to india.

The filthy streets , bad traffic, poor sanitation and shocking poverty is what they talk about afterwards.

Chapter 'Scavenger' in Gandhi's book 'Bahuroopi Gandhi' has first hand account of poor indian sanitation , not much has changed since then

 

[Meowtallica]

Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east. ~ Gandalf, The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)

Japan (an East Asian country) has truly had a magnificent dawn after their horrible and devastating incident/s not more than a half century ago and they have come a long way from then in many aspects, one of it being education.
Education is a vital part of their mundane activities even to the extent that schooling was hardly interrupted for long when the tsunami hit in 2011. This was due to temporary teaching facilities which were opened up within a short period of time after the events.
I digress, yet the point I would like to discuss is the activities or "rituals" carried out relentlessly by students and/or teachers alike. One of them being o-soji(cleaning) of classrooms, this practice which starts early in the schooling career helps the children learn the importance of cleanliness which follows them as they go on in life. Among other things indoor shoes are worn inside the classroom etc.
Students also serve food to their peers in the cafeterias, food eaten by teachers and students is the same in the early years(Later on packed lunch is brought from home).
These are but a few wonderful aspects of the current Japanese culture with regards to their schooling setup. We see that it is not only talking but actions that are having a good impact on the newer generations which come out with great morals such as cleanliness, humility, showing respect to the elders and in turn they giving it. However this does not only stop at school but is in fact an extension of the education thought at home. As the saying goes, "Charity begins at home."

 

[Hindustani78]

people from west who now have to make trips to india due to many companies having moved businesses to cheap indian locations like banglore often fall sick when they travel to india.

The filthy streets , bad traffic, poor sanitation and shocking poverty is what they talk about afterwards.

Chapter 'Scavenger' in Gandhi's book 'Bahuroopi Gandhi' has first hand account of poor indian sanitation , not much has changed since then

In India , people come because they get peace of mind specially westerners and Europeans because in those countries all sort of technology is being used against them but in case of India these things they wont find and on that Indian Government give them freedom to be free and on that Indian majority of population don't know much about technology.

Indians who are abroad , do understand why all go to India.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

What percentage of people rent in India?

In the US the areas that are usually dirty have a very high percentage of renters.
These "pass-thru" people don't really care about the neighborhood they are living in.

 

[Bilal9]

I tried to pm you but the pm system seems to have been altered.

So far almost no constructive posts on the subject have been made other than 'Kierkegaardian existentialist' posts (streets are filthy because...blah blah blah) and I include mine as well. I see a potential of this thread turning into a flaming war considering the subject. Let's close this thread please.

What percentage of people rent in India?

In the US the areas that are usually dirty have a very high percentage of renters.
These "pass-thru" people don't really care about the neighborhood they are living in.

It's not renters vs. owners that's the issue. The issue is that neighborhoods have existed in a filthy state for so long people have gotten used to this and have taken this for granted.

Unlike in the US, wealthier Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Sri Lankan people generally live in gated mansions with high twelve foot walls (like all other third world countries). There is no concept of neighborhood with open driveways and lawns like in the US.

In the subcontinent there could be destitute beggar families (sharecropper refugees from villages) living right outside the walls in a cardboard shack lean-to. Out of compassion and partly out of guilt, subcontinental people put up with this. Generally this is not a law-and-order problem so wealthy landowners let things pass. The hygiene state for destitute people is obviously lower than wealthy people (no running water, sanitation or electricity). So the general state of the neighborhood deteriorates.

It's a very Victorian situation reminiscent of 'David Copperfield'. In turn-of-the-century New York city, the new immigrants (Italian, Irish) often lived in similarly crowded circumstances (though not in such bad hygiene).

 

[IndoCarib]

May be Swach Bharat movement should be included in school curriculum. As other members said we need a change in our mindset and become more responsible towards our streets not just our homes