On 20th and 21st April, 2017, we organised a cleanliness drive in Ghoom, Darjeeling District along with the girls from Class 8 of Ghoom Girls Higher Secondary School. The drive was a wonderful success and it was very encouraging to see the girls having the most positive and encouraging attitude we could have expected!
Girls of Class 8 – Ghoom Girls Higher Secondary School cleaning up Ghoom Railway Station
The cleanliness drive was to clean dry, non-biodegradable solid waste such as plastics, glass and metals. All recyclable solid wastes (such as PET bottles, other recyclable plastics such as PVC and plastic boxes, glass bottles and metal scrap) were bagged separately and handed over to the local recycler (kaabadi-wala) on Sukhia Road. Non-recyclable wastes (such as polythene bags, plastic wrappers and films) were bagged separately for the municipality to transport to the garbage dump outside Darjeeling town.
A bag of recyclable waste on day one.
On day one, we cleaned up the Ghoom railway station and a small portion of Sukhia Road leading from the station. On day two, we cleaned a portion of Hill Cart Road from the station and then back to the school through Monastery Road.
The waste management issues, particularly the disposal of non-biodegradable solid waste has reached a crisis-point in Ghoom. The once serene and beautiful mountain-sides, rain-fed streams and valleys of Ghoom are a far-cry from the paradise that these tea-garden adorned Himalayan mountains were even as recent as fifteen years ago. Non-recyclable plastic waste such as wrappers and plastic films, some as as tiny as a fingernail are a constant ever-present fixture in Ghoom today. Increasingly, Ghoom is heading towards a point of no-return where it would practically be impossible to completely clean-up Ghoom and restore it to its pristine former glory.
We strongly believe that cleanliness drives with the efforts of school students is a powerful tool to reform the landscape and the minds of the future residents of Ghoom at the same time. We hope to repeat this exercise soon with more students of more schools in Ghoom while also helping the schools to incorporate cleanliness drives as a regular periodic activity.
Non-biodegradable, non-recyclable waste bagged up and ready for the landfill
Looking forward to a cleaner, safer and healthier Ghoom!