Vibez~

Among the many privileges we enjoy as citizens, the one which is most used and abused is probably our right to complain. About the bad roads, the non-functional streetlights and sometimes the ones which never get turned off, the excreta on the roads,  the potholes, the encroachments et cetera et cetera.

On my way to my office which is about 5 kms from where I stay, the roads we as usual bad, riddled with potholes, and featured humps at every possible cross. One fine day, someone at the PWD woke up and got the roads at 5th cross freshly tarred. I thanked the almighty (up in heaven or the one up the PWD chain) for the good fortune. Hardly a week down, i saw that wonderful stretch of road was cut across at one place. The culprits I discovered were non other than the owners of a newly constructed house who cut the road, laid the drain-pipe and just covered up the mess. Then a week later, the mud was blown & washed away, the broken tar wore away and then started, the deterioration of 5th Cross.

Now, the owner of that newly constructed house better never complain about bad roads and potholes. He has lost his right to complain about it, because he himself had a part to play in contributing to the ill health of the roads. People who dump garbage on the roadsides better not complain about one…the stink it raises and two..the flies that hover above it and contributing to the general filth around in that area. This in turn encourages straydogs to feed on the garbage, strays then dont leave the area, breed and multiply adding to another set of social environment woes. They lose their right to complain.

A lot of people love pet dogs and enjoy taking them on walks. The irony is that this exercise is with more intention to make the dogs defecate on the roads than to take them walk. These same people are the ones who complain about the amount of excreta on the roads. They cannot stand the filth and crap on the roads. What about the amount of crap they are responsible for getting unloaded onto the roads. They lose their right to complain.

Singapore I believe has a rule that you need to clean after your dog has done the deed on the road. No wonder the roads stay clean there. Can this be implemented in India ? Probably yes, but who will police it ? For how long ? This calls for some self policing. I know a family who loves dogs and has a closet built on the terrace where they dump their dog-poo. Now thats being a pet lover and socially responsible. Unless we find out ways to clean up after ourselves and our dogs, the roads and our social psyche will always remain dirty.