In India we have this tradition of leaving damaged idols of gods, floral offerings and other such leftovers from a prayer ceremony, near a temple ground. The idea is that trashing them would desecrate religious sentiments. Some also dump them in river waters upholding similar belief.
But can you imagine the amount of waste this “not- trashing” generates?
I am blessed to be living in a colony that borders a forested patch atop a rocky hill. There is a huge temple and cowshed established there. People not only visit the temple to pay obeisance to their gods but also purchase fresh cow milk from there. I go for a walk here every morning and simply adore the feel of walking in a forest. Icing on the cake are the gorgeous peacocks that have made this pahadi a home. At the moment its mating season, so its not uncommon to see them dancing and preening in full glory.
Of late there has been surreptitious dumping of garbage in nooks and corners of this forest patch. At first they were dumped behind the thickets to hide them from plain sight. But now there is open dumping daily of home waste, medicinal waste and construction debris. As far as one can look, there is trash dumped with mindless concern about the green cover.
One of the biggest offenders is the temple on this hillock. The waste generated by them is casually dumped just ahead of the temple, fouling the forest with stench and is an eyesore.
I have been fuming at this careless trashing with little regard for the ecology or our dependence on its well being. This forest is an amazing green lung to have around our colony and ensures we have plenty of rainfall every monsoon. There have been times when friends have asked me how come I am jumping about in the rainfall when there is no rain at their end. I give thanks to the pahadi for this blessing.
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The construction debris get thrown here by tractors which go unchecked on the roads by the cops. One can see them plying on main roads filled to the brim with building waste. Yet they do so with such impunity for there seems to be no check by the administration over this.
Another growing concern is medicinal waste which I have seen strewn around in two spots in the forests. It emits a very foul chemical odour and will ultimately leach to the groundwater. There is supposedly a proper protocol for disposing of expired medicines and other hospital waste. But again, someone is doing these illegally while the city administration sleeps on blissfully.
And then there are the broken idols which make strange bedfellows with all the sanitary hardware lying around. If this is the way people think they are discarding religious items “sensitively”, then they are really deluded. I dont think this is a great way to tell the lord that we respect him!!!!
I have created a Petition and would love to garner some support in form of your signatures people. Please do sign and share it on your social media handles to generate some noise about this. Our very basic right to breathe is being violated callously by the government. Its time to take accountability from our elected representatives and demand action to be taken.
Please do spare some thought for the Aravali Bio Diversity Park which the current government is trying to destroy in the name of development. This is all despite the Supreme Court ban on any mining and other such activities in the Aravalis.
This is Terrible. We have such few green patches left and that they should be defiled is pathetic. This misplaced idea of not-trashing man-made idols while messing up God’s own creation is beyond stupid. You’re lucky to live in a place like this and I understand your concern Shalini.
Oh you have put that so eloquently Tulika. We are desecrating Nature so arrogantly and everyday we are signs of climate disasters all over the World. Yet the effort to save it is barely there.
How stupid are we really and what are we leaving behind for the next generations.
That’s pretty bad! It’s great that you’re raising awareness and advocating for a good cause. We continue to ruin what Mother Nature has given us so freely
Yes Sanchie we are carelessly ruining something we got for free. It’s for everyone to share equally and should be allowed to regenerate too. But when have we learnt to be mindful? It is just heartbreaking.
Gosh, this breaks my heart! How can we humans be so reckless? I love the fact that you are raising awareness for such a good cause. So proud of you! <3
Thank you Soumya. I hope I am able to create some impact Via my noise making. Hoping to garner signatures on my petition for this cause.
You know I get so mad at people who think that clearing their trash is all that matters. We have ladies in our building who send their puja stuff like milk, old flowers etc and keep them at the bottom of our banyan tree that is literally being bogged down by tar and bricks. Another thing that bugs me is the debris from their frequent renovations that is kept in the building passages creating a fire hazard. And of course the fact that people still spit, pee , eat, cook , sell, peddle and do all kinds of things on the road under the watch of the authorities ……. it’s simply appalling.
BTW I have nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award which I know you will find puerile but hope you will accept.
I hear you Sunita. It is indeed frustrating to see that we Indians are still not bothered about something like garbage and think it’s someone else’s problem. All one can do is preserved with their own practices and try and influence others to follow suit.
Thanks for the award. I shall check it out tomorrow.
It is disgusting how waste disposal is handled in Gurgaon. The Gurgaon administration has never been the one to take care of the city except for collaborating with the builders, flatening the Aravallis and building more and more apartments. I am signing your petition and sharing on Twitter.
Yes Anu. It’s very frustrating here in Gurgaon. One regime came and sold off tonnes of Land to DLF and this one is trying to make off with the rest. Baba Ramdev had acquired so much Forest Land under Shady garb and it’s all thanks to Modi once more. This hillside is a current scene and no administration cleanup is in Sight. Infact they are the ones turning a blind eye to such activity. It’s shameful what is happening all over India under the BJP- another govt only bothered about their personal coffers.
This makes me so angry and sad. We need to stop killing ourselves in slow doses.
I know what you mean D. It’s very frustrating to see this happening Daily and that also in ones backyard.