Waste – a formidable foe

Wai! Thimphu is choking with wastes. Our backyard gullies and alleyways are odorous muckhills. And the rot sets in by the day. It doesn’t help going ape about the humongous heaps of refuse piling up in the streets and waysides. But the molehills of wastes continue to grow, clogging our drains, sending out atrocious odor.That the amount of waste generated will increase with the rise in population living in the cities and towns is understandable, but how do we explain mounds of garbage left to rot in our backyards? We always say that we are a very environmentally conscious country, but are we really the guardians of our environment? If we were, such would not be the state of our homes and public places. Waste would not be seen much on the sidewalks and pavements in the streets.We are only as good as our word.  Some say that as a small society we ought to be able tackle the problem of waste easily enough. But then, we do much talking and nothing else about the problem itself. So our streets get messier and fouler as people go about with their unintelligent habit of throwing garbage anywhere they like. It is sad and embarrassing how we can’t even take care of our own mess. Or have we lost our sense of hygiene so entirely it has come to mean nothing to us anymore?    Solutions must be sought before our own garbage overwhelm us and our cities turn into dunghills, reeking of piss, dirt and decay. Wouldn’t it be a sorry sight then?