The air gets warmer as spring sets in. So is the smell of the mounting garbage that has become a landmark of Imphal, the capital Manipur. There is no other capital like Imphal where garbage mingles together with its people. Garbage at the market, garbage at the roadside, garbage in the office, garbage in public and private institution, garbage in the locality – omnipresent garbage, the people dwells with it for three hundred sixty days in a year. There was traditional ways of managing the garbage. Every household used to have their own garbage disposal pit at the backyard of their houses. The excretory products were also deposited at a separate pit. Now the population has increased manifold. The highest density is in Imphal. In the process the spaces which were demarcated for managing garbage in the household have given way for modern concrete structures to accommodate growing number of population in the family. All kind of wastages are directly made to be flown into the drainages which are never maintained properly. At the most the drainage system gets the attention of the public and the government authority during the rainy seasons when the stagnant rain water would refuse to flow. Forget about the rivers getting overflown. A half an hour deluge can hold the capital under siege by the stagnant water. Most of the important offices in the town get inundated. This is almost in all offices that are situated at Babupara area. Those offices which are located in wetland area like Lamphel faces the worst scenario. And this is the best time when the piled up garbage gets blended with the rain water and greet us at our door steps, right under our nose. Even before the rains the Nambul River and the Naga River are flowing with dark pungent sewers, with all kinds of waste dump into it. Nambul River water is a potable source till Mayang Langjing area of Imphal West district. The water of this river started to get a different colour from the Eroishemba area. And it becomes an abominable concoction of liquid when it reaches the capital. We have cited just two rivers that flow through the Capital. All other rivers which pass through Imphal area have the same fate of carrying the awful loads. Finally it gets deposited in the middle of the Loktak Lake which is the pride of the state, a picture postcard for promoting tourism. It is said that rivers are the index of health and hygiene of a city or a town. Just look at our rivers before thinking about tourism or Look East Policy. Smell the filth that flows with it before wearing clean clothes.
Well, are there any planners of policy makers, social workers or legislators who is talking about the garbage or doing something about garbage which they also produced from morning till night. What has happened to the hyped Zero Garbage Campaign that took off in 2010 with much fanfare? The kind of exaggerated hope the authorities once projected to the people during its campaign has now been lost in oblivion. We know, and this is for true, if the authorities happen to read this column: they would have enough excuses to defend themselves. They might even point fingers to the people saying that they lack civic sense and they do not cooperate as good citizens. Are they even aware of how the people of Langol are reeling under the piles of garbage that are dumped near their homes on a daily basis? The makeshift management which is carried out by private waste collector in the town is at a lost in finding a proper place for disposal. The solid waste management plant being constructed at Lamdeng is taking more time than expected. Will it be able to solve the problem after its completion? We are doubtful with the current abysmal state of planning and execution; and above all with the sickening sense of laxity of stakeholders of any name.