Time to ‘name and shame’ people for litter in Aldona: Ferreira
Panaji: Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira has called for a collective effort to end the menace of indiscriminate waste dumping across the Aldona Constituency.
During a visit to the Nachinola Gavar road on Saturday, Ferreira stated that tonnes of garbage littered by various people had been found. He spoke of ‘naming and shaming’ individuals whose waste has been discovered as a means to end the crisis.
During the clean-up drive, several wrappers were found bearing the names and addresses of people whose garbage had been thrown at the site, he said.
Ferreira questioned whether these individuals ever learn, whether they want to keep the villages clean, and if cleanliness to them only means keeping one’s house clean while leaving surroundings and other places dirty.
He said that despite every appeal and cleanliness drive, garbage continues to be thrown repeatedly in the same spot or further ahead, creating a foul stench as wet waste is being dumped alongside dry waste.
“When we had come for an initial survey and examination of what we should do, I had said that apart from a few unscrupulous locals who are involved most of the garbage is littered by transit people coming from other parts of Goa like Bicholim and beyond. And that was proved to be true when garbage was segregated and put in different bags. We have found packets of deliveries made as far as Karapur and even some people from Nachinola and Moira all way to throw garbage over here,” he said.
The MLA announced his intention to publish the details from the receipts that were recovered at the scene. He appealed to members of the public to identify the names found on the wrappers and share their details if they recognize them as neighbours, noting the need to ascertain how their garbage landed there.
Ferreira said that they can showcase these names with their photos on the “Hall of Shame”, a Facebook page currently being created, to give them credit for littering and spoiling the image of Goa so that even their neighbours can take care of these elements who create a nuisance, shame them, and ensure they do not repeat this behavior.
“Now we will have to use methods like shaming people and only then I believe they will learn to have some kind of discipline. I don’t want our constituency to be dirty. Despite Swachh Bharat appeals by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we don’t want cleanliness drives only on October 2, cleanliness should be practiced every day in our homes and in our environment,” he said. Ferreira also pointed out that despite efforts to educate the public, the names discovered include individuals who appear to live in palatial homes costing crores of rupees, from whom he assumed a level of education should be expected.
He said that education does not merely mean formal qualification, but also includes personal behaviour and how one keeps their surroundings, family, and village clean.
Ferreira added that if individuals need to keep themselves clean, they must also keep their neighbourhood clean. He also said that the Nachinola Comunidade has gone out of its way to solve this problem, stressing that the responsibility should not simply be pushed onto the panchayat.
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