•-Keeping the pace with technological stride is not a problem for both young and old Naga alike and everyone is apparently technophile. We are also very quick in adapting anything that is new even without a moment of thought of its implication. But we bother less about ‘civic life’ allowing regression to rudimentary stage.
Just a walk down in downtown Dimapur and Kohima may give you ample credence to the squalid state of our cities. Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, is indeed the hub of less civic conscious people while Kohima, the Switzerland of the East, mirrors Nagaland as just the opposite of Swiss civic life. We are lagging far behind in enjoying civic amenities: there’s no better sewerage, dumping yards and drainages. To take an example, in Kohima most of the latrine pipes are directly connected to drain or stream nearby. One may mistakenly believe those pipes as cannon mount. We could see the solid waste of human- on the drain- from our kitchen and verandah. It’s very disgusting: most of the families yet to say ‘yes’ to septic tank.
And let’s appraise the domestic refuse that scattered over the heart of towns and colonies. Where there’s open space, there’s the dump. Often people don’t care of what they are disposing of. Even nappies and sanitary towels (tampon) are dumped carelessly; sometimes we locate them at our front door picked up by none other than our pets. With waste disposal deficit, there’s drainage exigency. Drainages are completely wide open without slabs and always choked up with litters. Rainy season is not too far away, travellers are about to wade across the spillover of adjacent drainage on the road. A little bit of magic can help improve drainage system, dumping bins (at every important point with pickup truck) and scientific sewerage system. But the truth is ‘who’ does have the magic? The answer is obvious: basically, the task of providing civic amenities lies with the municipal body and to utilize it properly lies with every individual.
Look, our walls are splattered with any kind of saliva and covered with graffiti. Beautifully painted school and office walls- with don’t spit on the wall or sticks no bill warnings- have any exception from the people with lose civic sense. School benches and desks are also found with variety of scribbles. Empty sachets of talab, tez, rajnikanda etc., have become threats to our healthy living everywhere. And mind you, church too is the victim of reckless congregations who habitually stick chewing gum on the benches and reducing the floor to just a heap of seeds. After every fest, party and event, our stadiums and auditoriums are found littered with detritus; fast-food packaging too ends up with us as a great civic challenge.
But much worse is the men’s proclivity for urinating in any open space without the slightest courtesy to female counterparts. It is absolutely disgraceful to encounter people urinating nearby pavement exposing all of their private parts, especially when we are with parents and family friends. Some years back in Kohima, women group of a certain colony signposted on the roadside warning to those used to urinate nearby the thoroughfare: the sternest penalty imposed on defaulters. It was an effective attempt to stem the tide of senseless people who does not have even an iota of respect to other moral values. Isn’t this a practical idea to follow suit in other areas?
For us sanitation is not a big deal and perhaps, an alien concept. But for goodness’ sake, share the little civic values you have with the ones on your left, centre and right. Nevertheless, no one is excluded from the litterbug list. We think too much but we feel too little.
Senka Yaden,
Ao Kashiram , Dimapur
Just a walk down in downtown Dimapur and Kohima may give you ample credence to the squalid state of our cities. Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, is indeed the hub of less civic conscious people while Kohima, the Switzerland of the East, mirrors Nagaland as just the opposite of Swiss civic life. We are lagging far behind in enjoying civic amenities: there’s no better sewerage, dumping yards and drainages. To take an example, in Kohima most of the latrine pipes are directly connected to drain or stream nearby. One may mistakenly believe those pipes as cannon mount. We could see the solid waste of human- on the drain- from our kitchen and verandah. It’s very disgusting: most of the families yet to say ‘yes’ to septic tank.
And let’s appraise the domestic refuse that scattered over the heart of towns and colonies. Where there’s open space, there’s the dump. Often people don’t care of what they are disposing of. Even nappies and sanitary towels (tampon) are dumped carelessly; sometimes we locate them at our front door picked up by none other than our pets. With waste disposal deficit, there’s drainage exigency. Drainages are completely wide open without slabs and always choked up with litters. Rainy season is not too far away, travellers are about to wade across the spillover of adjacent drainage on the road. A little bit of magic can help improve drainage system, dumping bins (at every important point with pickup truck) and scientific sewerage system. But the truth is ‘who’ does have the magic? The answer is obvious: basically, the task of providing civic amenities lies with the municipal body and to utilize it properly lies with every individual.
Look, our walls are splattered with any kind of saliva and covered with graffiti. Beautifully painted school and office walls- with don’t spit on the wall or sticks no bill warnings- have any exception from the people with lose civic sense. School benches and desks are also found with variety of scribbles. Empty sachets of talab, tez, rajnikanda etc., have become threats to our healthy living everywhere. And mind you, church too is the victim of reckless congregations who habitually stick chewing gum on the benches and reducing the floor to just a heap of seeds. After every fest, party and event, our stadiums and auditoriums are found littered with detritus; fast-food packaging too ends up with us as a great civic challenge.
But much worse is the men’s proclivity for urinating in any open space without the slightest courtesy to female counterparts. It is absolutely disgraceful to encounter people urinating nearby pavement exposing all of their private parts, especially when we are with parents and family friends. Some years back in Kohima, women group of a certain colony signposted on the roadside warning to those used to urinate nearby the thoroughfare: the sternest penalty imposed on defaulters. It was an effective attempt to stem the tide of senseless people who does not have even an iota of respect to other moral values. Isn’t this a practical idea to follow suit in other areas?
For us sanitation is not a big deal and perhaps, an alien concept. But for goodness’ sake, share the little civic values you have with the ones on your left, centre and right. Nevertheless, no one is excluded from the litterbug list. We think too much but we feel too little.
Senka Yaden,
Ao Kashiram , Dimapur
