While the national capital region grapples with the toxic cloak of smog it has been wearing for the past few days, there are some in Dwarka who are burning garbage in the open.
And what's more, these bright folk are not just restricted to the uneducated. There are authority officials and RWA members involved as well. There are big bonfires of waste-burning either on the sides of the roads or inside societies. The corporation staff, too, has not found a better time to burn horticultural waste than now.
“I have written to the authorities and attached pictures of garbage heaps being burnt,” said Munish Kundra, a social activist who is also a member of the Brahma Apartments managing committee. “There has been no response from them. Respiratory problems have swept across the sub-city like an epidemic. How can they allow garbage-burning amid the brouhaha over the smog? It is shameful.”
Photo: Munish Kundra
Aparajita Gautam, a Sector 11 resident, was going home from office when she saw a garbage pile being burnt on the roadside. Gautam took a snap and shared it on social media to raise awareness. She also shared her snaps with City Spidey to reach the masses. “It is so apathetic of them to be burning waste now,” said Gautam. “How can someone add to the smog even as so many of us struggle to breathe?”
Social media has been inundated with awareness messages, images of high-rises shrouded in smog, and statistics that point to the situation’s gravity. And yet, it is only a handful of people that can see the "clear and present danger". The majority is myopic about it, choosing to act "when the time comes".
“We can’t afford to be acting like fools in times like these,” said Debashish Bagchi, president of the Defence Officers Apartments managing committee. “We have to understand that the situation is grave and we need to act accordingly. I request residents and authority officials to be more responsible and stop this open burning of garbage."
"It is more important now than ever before that the practice be stopped,” he added.
