The scenes of garbage piling up on the streets of Imphal are a regular feature but it is when the rains set in, that the garbage that we see lying around also adding to another menace: that of clogging drains and leading to water logging. The spectacle of garbage lying around on roads and public spaces and river banks is not an unusual sight anymore and neither is the stench of rotting garbage left lying around, waiting either for the Imphal Municipality Council managed waste dumping vehicles to carry them away elsewhere to be dumped again or for certain NGOs running waste colleting services to do the same. The IMC run service on its part is still limited to the Imphal bazaar area and is marred by sloth and erratic service due to various issues including non payment of its employees from time to time. Apart from the IMC service, there are a few NGOs who have even gone on to portray itself as doing a good job and even being awarded with some prestigious prizes instituted by agencies outside the state. The irony being that the private waste collection service in its current status quo looks more like a way to earn some fast bucks for it is common knowledge that such private services puts their premium on collecting subscription fees but do not ensure regular waste pick up. On the few days that waste disposal pick up vehicles come by to pick up garbage from households, the streets of Imphal may well look a bit clean but such days then mean it is the turn for people living around the Lamphel and Langol foothills have to live with stench and filth, due to the accumulated garbage that gets dumped in their vicinity. In light of the fast pace of urban growth in and around Imphal and the lack of proper drainage and dumping ground for garbage and wastage, the idea of doing without a proper and effective system or agency to take care and responsibility of waste care and its management will do nothing for the ‘development’ that Manipur is attempting to seek. Here, it must be noted that the IMC and other private agencies come into the picture at the stage of waste collection and disposal but it is necessary also to address ways of preventing garbage accumulation as well.
One other way of not contributing to waste build up is by not using polythene bags, which is incidentally banned. But, the manner and degree in which polythene bags are being used throughout the state dispels any notion of the ban being implemented. Compare this with states where Government takes strict action against the use of plastic bag use by making that shopping establishments use paper bags. Elsewhere in the country, walk into any major store, and customers who opt for plastic and polythene bags are charged extra thereby indirectly leading the common man to start thinking about using jute, paper or cloth bags. In Manipur, apart from the cement structured dumping areas in residential areas, the roads do not have public dustbins while plastic/polythene bags have become a much-needed commodity. The lack of a social and civic habit of teaching young children to use dustbins and stop littering public places means that they start young in contributing to shirking away their responsibility to correct waste disposal methods. Then again, till parents and elders of a family show by example that they also clean up, younger children will never learn to do so. They cannot learn so long as they see their elders throwing waste on the river banks under the cover of darkness.
Once plastic use is limited, bio-degradable waste materials no longer need to be burnt but can be utilized to make compost organic manure or be recycled. The Government on its part needs to decide what it wants the IMC and other agencies to be doing as a stakeholder in the civic and sanitation sector and factor in stringent roles and responsibilities, failing which strong action should be taken against them. It should also be noted that apart from Imphal, there are semi urban areas developing in the districts without any agency in place to look into waste disposal and management and it is only a matter of time for the spectacle of waste piles on the streets of Imphal to be seen in these semi urban areas. As in other sectors, it is not just one stakeholder that has to take the onus and with waste disposal with the objective of a clean environment, all it takes is for every stakeholder to get on board and take its role seriously.