The worthy MLA of Gulmarg constituency Farooq Ahmed Shah has initiated a cleanliness drive which started on 21st October with an aim to fight against filth, garbage, dirt, and pollution which has deteriorated our environment everywhere. Shah said in an interview that during his election campaign, he has witnessed many places that have become hotspots of dirt and garbage and the need of the hour is to clean these areas on a war footing basis. Different departments are participating in this drive to prioritize cleanliness in the whole area. However, we are well aware of the fact that it is not the first such initiative which taken with this aim in mind. We have seen many such initiatives that were taken from time to time to make our environment more worthy to live in.
Although these initiatives were taken in letter and spirit by different departments at different times mainly due to no or minimal role played by the locals the results could not be as they were expected. For any such initiative to become fruitful the local population must take part in it. We are witnessing piles of garbage and filth in and around our localities. Our life has become miserable due to the presence of filth which is increasing day by day due to our own activities and still most of us are watching and behaving like mute spectators. We have also witnessed that dogs, leopards, and other wild animals are attracted by these piles of garbage which eventually lead to many fatal incidents.
We have to learn to own our local environment. We have to understand that this environment is ours and if it is polluted and deteriorated due to our activities or the activities of our relatives and neighbors we have to take responsibility ourselves to clean it. It is ridiculous to wait for the government authorities or employees alone to clean our environment for us. We have defiled it to such a level that it would be impossible for any department alone to clean it for us.
If we really want to live a better life in a better environment then we all have to unite for the cause of cleanliness of our localities ourselves. All the citizens from our localities must come forth and participate in the cleanliness drives only then can we expect to witness better results on the ground.
The first and foremost thing is to change our mindset about cleanliness. One who takes the initiative for cleanliness should not be mocked by others. One who gathers the garbage for proper disposal is better than the one who throws and spreads filth everywhere. We must understand that for a better life and better future, it is important that we prioritize cleanliness around us. Cleanliness should not be taken as a burden by those who claim to be the followers of such a faith which has given such importance to cleanliness that it was considered one of the basic elements of faith or even half of the faith by many of its traditions. We consider ourselves more educated and civilized than our older generations but the piles of garbage which we have assembled in our neighborhoods prove the opposite. We might be constructing better houses but our environment is worse and the irony is that we are the main culprits for the deterioration of this environment.
We have to take this matter more seriously if we want to see a better future for us and our younger generations. In this regard, my suggestion would be that every village must establish committees voluntarily to take up regular cleanliness drives from time to time. First of all, we should focus on and select the hotspots of filth and garbage around our villages and clean them voluntarily without waiting for the government departments to do the same. We have to motivate and mobilise more and more people to take part in the cleanliness drives in our villages and unitedly fight against this menace which is otherwise going to cause huge and unmanageable issues for us. If we work together unitedly in a proper way we shall certainly be able to bring the desired change and live a better future.
The author can be mailed at bukhari.hilalahmad5@gmail.com
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