A few years back, a visit to Goa meant being taken in by the natural beauty and cleanliness. Today, ugly haphazard constructions and piles of garbage and plastic bags dotting the landscape meet the eye. Maybe the average Goan has got used to seeing this, day after day. For an outsider though, this is shocking and ugly compared to the beautiful memories we carry. And I have to admit, each time I go back now, it shocks and saddens me, and makes me very sad.
As the bus rolls into Goa and the first light of the sun hits the coconut trees, one starts noticing the piles of garbage and plastic dumped by the side of the road near the Damian De Goa showroom in Porvorim. More plastic all over Porvorim plateau. More ugly, stinking garbage at the Malim fishing jetty. Take the Verem-Nerul road, and it feels like one is passing through a garbage dump near See You bar and restaurant. Ugly concrete structures of Nerul tinto give way to the beautiful Nerul bridge, but the very next moment one passes through yet another garbage dump on both sides of the approach road on the Candolim side.
Some immediate measures we can probably take up in Goa to tackle this:
1)Ban plastic bags of all kinds
2)Ban dumping of construction debris along main roads and highways
3)Make village panchayats responsible/empowered for scientific disposal of garbage
4)Provide plastic collection centers in all cities/villages
5)Conduct urgent and immediate clean up drives along key roads, highways, and in key tourist places to collect and dispose of plastic and garbage that’s accumulated over the years
6)Involve villagers, hoteliers, and other stake holders in the programme to maintain cleanliness
7)Regulate construction to avoid ugly, haphazard concrete eye sores from coming up every where
In contrast, when we reach Pune, we are greeted by broad tree-lined avenues, very clean footpaths and roads, and in general, a beautiful city. I think the PMC and the administration here definitely deserve a round of applause!
