SHILLONG, Nov 22: When it comes to keeping the town tidy, there are many who wax eloquent about Shillong and rave nostalgically about its beauty but how many really live up to the idea of responsible citizenship.
Every time people see garbage being dumped at a particular place, they are quick to pile the blame on the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB). Of late however, some CCTV cameras have been put up at strategic locations in and around Oakland and Police Bazar- GS Road areas to detect litterbugs. Such people are then fined a minimum of Rs 25,000 by the SMB.
But this is not enough deterrence going by the garbage being dumped in areas like Jail Road, Maccabe Road, all along the roadside from Polo to Nongmensong and other areas of the city.
Considering that the SMB collects household garbage on a daily basis the onus should be on citizens as to why they still discard their household garbage at public places without second thoughts and without a care about the consequences.
Some residents of Jail Road while speaking to this reporter on why people dump garbage by the roadside said, “Most people who miss the Municipal trucks that come to collect garbage end up discarding their waste by the roadside. How much policing can anyone do?”
The SMB workers on the other hand work tirelessly to keep the city clean with very little remuneration. In fact the staff of the SMB have not received their salaries from August this year. CEO, SMB, B Sohliya, says this year the revenue collection from different sources had dwindled on account of the pandemic.
“Our collection from parking lots had gone down drastically. We had to exempt rent payment from the stalls since they had to remain closed since March this year. Even rent on holdings had to be exempted. We have tried to pay the contractual staff though,” Sohliya said.
For the past several months the shop owners and residents of Police Bazar, Jail Road, GS Road etc., have formed a WhatsApp group.
Led by the SMB Executive Officer, Martina Lyttan the group have put their best foot forward to keep their respective areas clean. Even the hawkers know they cannot leave the litter behind lest they are fined.
But the most visible workers who are at it from early morning until evening are the SMB workers who have now teamed up with Team Jiva to pull out garbage from every nook and cranny; from drains and crevices and by the side of the road.
Speaking to this reporter, some of the sweepers said, “If only people are more responsible and caring and if they take their chips packets and coke/Coca Cola and packaged water bottles home and throw them in the garbage trucks that come to their respective localities, Shillong would be a much better place, but how can anyone teach educated people?”
Meanwhile Jiwat Vaswani and his Team Jiva who maintain the divider and roundabout in Police Bazar and have also been in the forefront of cleaning up the city said, “The SMB team from the seniors to the junior staff are putting in their best efforts not to just clean up the city but to also educate people. Never have I seen a more active and dedicated Municipal Department anywhere else.”
Well spoken and attempts to give this city a clean look have been ongoing. Perhaps somewhere something will change. Like they say …Hope springs eternal in the human breast and hope is what keeps SMB and its partners going.