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Not in my Backyard
NIMBY or not in my backyard is a timely catchphrase which will probably help us
Goans grow up and take responsibility for our own actions. So, let's welcome it!
Not only will it make us think twice before we increase our own garbage and
expect
others to share it but there are several other plus points, such as, making us
want
to dig a pit in our own gardens and bury our daily garbage. Now, this compost
can be
used to grow vegetables, and if done widely, might even help to make us self
sufficient in vegetables, save money, and lead more healthy lives. No more the
need
to import vegetables from other States. Will the government help us to become
self-sufficient?
Plastic garbage no doubt will have to be collected but fortunately it does not
smell
although it takes decades to be destroyed completely and is harmful. Having
said
the obvious, we can encourage everyone to use jute bags and so reduce the
amount of
plastic. Village panchayats could subsidize the price of jute bags and
encourage
everyone to use them.
The Supreme Court has passed a directive that garbage is a taluka problem and
every
village, town, and city will have to deal with this problem on its own terms.
Panaji
and other big cities in Goa cannot afford to be arrogant anymore. If the
capital can
have a film festival but is unable to control its own garbage problem then it
is
time to add another attraction - The Garbage Festival. It might become even
more
popular than the film festival which has a lot of critics.
As I said earlier, it is time to grow up and take full responsibility for our
actions. Let's not miss this golden opportunity.
Goa is now at the crossroads with the garbage problem. We need to be watchful,
otherwise we will be doomed! We Goans have only one chance to prevent the
handover
of our State to outsiders by our elected representatives, only one brake to
apply to
prevent the destruction of our villages, and it is to group two or three small
villages together and solve the garbage problem in a sustainable way, in a way
which
allows us to keep the character of the Goan village, the Goan way of life, and
the
power over the future of our villages in the hands of the villagers.
Big garbage plants, no doubt, will mean the end of our villages as the only
brake we
have - sustainability - will lose its power and become invalidated. The
government
will be free to develop our villages in whatever way they like! Is this what we
want? The bigger the garbage disposal plant, the greater is the danger to our
villages, as dozens of our villages can be made into towns. Is this what we
want, to
have our villages changed to towns, our towns to cities, and for Goa to become
another Mumbai?
