One of the items on our immediate to-do list was to take steps for clearing a large garbage pile that was sitting right opposite the main gate of Ghoom Girls Higher Secondary School on Sukhia Road, Ghoom. The garbage pile sat beside the rain water-cum-sewage drain that runs along side the stairway that connects Monastery Road to Sukhia Road.
This garbage pile consisted of every kind of waste including kitchen waste, animal waste, domestic sewage (including human waste), plastics, metals and glass. The garbage itself largely came down through the open rain water-cum-sewage drain, and when the garbage clogs the drain, a person from the Municipality is called in to remove some of the garbage from the drain which he piles up into a large garbage dump right opposite the main gate of the school.
A bag of recyclable waste on day one.
We decided to help the Ghoom Girls Higher Secondary School draft a letter to the relevant authorities (including the Municipality and the Councillor) to first clear the garbage pile, and then put in place a series of measures (such as covering up the open drain with metal grills, placing filter grills periodically through the length and educating the people uphill event the disposal of solid waste into the drain) to permanently solve the problem.
In fact, I had just about finished drafting a letter on these lines and was to share it with the school during the day. But on April 22, 2017 (the very next day after the second day of the cleanliness drive), we were overjoyed to see that the residents of the area had (perhaps a tad bit inspired by the school girls’ cleanliness drive!) decided to take matters into their own hands, literally. The residents borrowed gloves, masks, brooms and large bags we used for the cleanliness drive and set to work on the repulsive pile of garbage. In about an hour’s time, the entire pile of garbage was neatly bagged up for the municipality, the area was washed, disinfected, and a good deal of clogged garbage from the adjacent drain was also cleared out.
Before and After!
What was most encouraging was yet to come. The residents decided to walk uphill to Monastery Road (from where most of the garbage comes down the drains) and requested nearly every house not to throw solid waste into the drain as it clogs up the drain and causes severe waste management and health issues. While I do not believe we led to the change of mind, I do believe we were in some sense catalysts to transform the mounting pressure of wanting to do something with action! The excitement of it all was welcome inspiration and encouragement to take the Clean Ghoom Project to the next level 🙂
More to come!