This is an article which is not trying to insult the people of Darjeeling as I am also one but trying to pass on a message
The Darjeeling I knew of no longer exists. It is sad to see that the Darjeeling that we envision as being a beautiful clean and serene Hill station is no more describable as the Queen.
From the day I arrived in Darjeeling it was shocking to see the roads, pavements and almost every corner of the town filled with dirt and litter. All the locals seemed to be fine with the stench and the piles of dirt.
I thought maybe because the pujas have begun the staffs are on holiday and the mess will be cleared but as each day passed I saw more and more dirt even in the places where I’d least expected them. I was intrigued to find out why this was happening. Why was so much dirt being piled up each day all over the town, why was nobody taking responsibility?
There was no answer. I spoke to the locals and all they had to say was, “what can we do? If the Municipality is not doing anything who are we to do anything?” These are the very words of some of the locals I spoke to.
So if the Municipality is not doing anything about the mountain of dirt we are creating, are we going to be living with it sooner than later? Is this not your place and do you not call it your home? Do we not keep our homes clean? Can we not keep our homes clean? I went visiting to many friends and relatives houses and saw that their houses were spik and span and I had the same questions for them and their answers were the same!! Have we now become a society that does not care anymore?? This brought about the thought of what Napoleon had said "The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of good people."
I then decided to see if the dirt was just accumulated by the day and to my surprise I found that the streets were cleaned and swept clean each morning and the dustbins cleared as well, but the catch was that the dirt was being piled up in one corner and only some of it was being actually taken away.
So I asked the sweeper if this was a daily routine as in the piling up of the dirt on the little hill that was being created. The sweeper and his team said that they collect most of the solid pieces but leave behind the dirt that gathers. So I went on to ask them if the dirt pile would be picked up and to my surprise he said that will depend and they were not sure about what would happen to it.
Then I asked where they were from and they said they all from in and around the Town. I had no more questions as my mind began to wonder if they actually cared and if they did then why were they so careless? Who will take responsibility when it’s actually too late for anything to be done?
The other thing that I noticed in the early mornings and even through the day was that the drains in Darjeeling in every street had a stench quite unbearable at times and it was obvious what was flowing through. The sewerage system in Darjeeling no more exists so it all flows through the drains that were actually meant to carry the rain water and other waste water to the nearest jhora or to the on flowing sewerage lines.
So it was evident that our sewerage was flowing all over and there was no sewerage tanks anymore as they have all been converted to houses!! So where is all the sewerage going to? Is anybody even thinking about it and what its dire consequences could be and what it can cause to happen!!!
Upon further thoughts and retrospect I realised that the people of Darjeeling were not Darjeelingeys anymore!!! They had ceased to live Darjeeling!! They were not Darjeeling anymore!!! They were not the pride the Queen of the Hills anymore!! The Toy train was not theirs anymore the mighty Kangchendzonga was not theirs anymore, nor the Tiger Hill or the Chowrasta. Darjeeling had lost its people and was now not Darjeeling of the Darjeelingey who cared anymore!!! It was all dead and gone.
So there was Darjeeling existing for the sake of being there with its ugly buildings, rush of vehicles spewing out smoke killing the essence and the dead Darjeelingeys piling up dirt by the day creating the sad place where once existed the Queen of the Hills, clean and fresh and exulting in its beauty and serenity.
Finally I got to hear from the many honorable big people of Darjeeling and its Municipality personnel that the dirt is not being picked up or cleaned because the Darjeeling Municipality staff Union does not allow it to happen. I was surprised and I asked why. It was very simple they said, the “Municipality sweepers and garbage collectors are only contracted for the collection of 20 tons of garbage in a day thus more cannot be collected”...
There you go my dear people who love Darjeeling for the want of a contract that decided how much dirt/garbage is to be collected in a day the Queen is no more the Queen and I am sure I wouldn’t mind paying an extra 20/30/50 rupees if that extra 20 ton could be cleared and everybody could be living clean. The other thought that runs across my mind right now as I write this is the saying, “Charity begins at home” if this is so then why are the homes in Darjeeling so clean but everything else is a mess!!!
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!!
[Written by a VERY CONCERNED DARJEELINGEY]
-----------------------------
The DC editorial note: We thank the writer for highlighting this important issue and for bringing to focus the fact that if we can care for our houses, then why can't we care for our beloved Hills?
हाम्रो पाहाड छ र नै हामी बाच्येको छुंग... हाम्रो पाहाड हामी ले गर्दा बांच्येको छैन
Let us take care of our beloved hills
Source: DC
The Darjeeling I knew of no longer exists. It is sad to see that the Darjeeling that we envision as being a beautiful clean and serene Hill station is no more describable as the Queen.
From the day I arrived in Darjeeling it was shocking to see the roads, pavements and almost every corner of the town filled with dirt and litter. All the locals seemed to be fine with the stench and the piles of dirt.
I thought maybe because the pujas have begun the staffs are on holiday and the mess will be cleared but as each day passed I saw more and more dirt even in the places where I’d least expected them. I was intrigued to find out why this was happening. Why was so much dirt being piled up each day all over the town, why was nobody taking responsibility?
There was no answer. I spoke to the locals and all they had to say was, “what can we do? If the Municipality is not doing anything who are we to do anything?” These are the very words of some of the locals I spoke to.
So if the Municipality is not doing anything about the mountain of dirt we are creating, are we going to be living with it sooner than later? Is this not your place and do you not call it your home? Do we not keep our homes clean? Can we not keep our homes clean? I went visiting to many friends and relatives houses and saw that their houses were spik and span and I had the same questions for them and their answers were the same!! Have we now become a society that does not care anymore?? This brought about the thought of what Napoleon had said "The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of good people."
I then decided to see if the dirt was just accumulated by the day and to my surprise I found that the streets were cleaned and swept clean each morning and the dustbins cleared as well, but the catch was that the dirt was being piled up in one corner and only some of it was being actually taken away.
So I asked the sweeper if this was a daily routine as in the piling up of the dirt on the little hill that was being created. The sweeper and his team said that they collect most of the solid pieces but leave behind the dirt that gathers. So I went on to ask them if the dirt pile would be picked up and to my surprise he said that will depend and they were not sure about what would happen to it.
Then I asked where they were from and they said they all from in and around the Town. I had no more questions as my mind began to wonder if they actually cared and if they did then why were they so careless? Who will take responsibility when it’s actually too late for anything to be done?
The other thing that I noticed in the early mornings and even through the day was that the drains in Darjeeling in every street had a stench quite unbearable at times and it was obvious what was flowing through. The sewerage system in Darjeeling no more exists so it all flows through the drains that were actually meant to carry the rain water and other waste water to the nearest jhora or to the on flowing sewerage lines.
So it was evident that our sewerage was flowing all over and there was no sewerage tanks anymore as they have all been converted to houses!! So where is all the sewerage going to? Is anybody even thinking about it and what its dire consequences could be and what it can cause to happen!!!
Upon further thoughts and retrospect I realised that the people of Darjeeling were not Darjeelingeys anymore!!! They had ceased to live Darjeeling!! They were not Darjeeling anymore!!! They were not the pride the Queen of the Hills anymore!! The Toy train was not theirs anymore the mighty Kangchendzonga was not theirs anymore, nor the Tiger Hill or the Chowrasta. Darjeeling had lost its people and was now not Darjeeling of the Darjeelingey who cared anymore!!! It was all dead and gone.
So there was Darjeeling existing for the sake of being there with its ugly buildings, rush of vehicles spewing out smoke killing the essence and the dead Darjeelingeys piling up dirt by the day creating the sad place where once existed the Queen of the Hills, clean and fresh and exulting in its beauty and serenity.
Finally I got to hear from the many honorable big people of Darjeeling and its Municipality personnel that the dirt is not being picked up or cleaned because the Darjeeling Municipality staff Union does not allow it to happen. I was surprised and I asked why. It was very simple they said, the “Municipality sweepers and garbage collectors are only contracted for the collection of 20 tons of garbage in a day thus more cannot be collected”...
There you go my dear people who love Darjeeling for the want of a contract that decided how much dirt/garbage is to be collected in a day the Queen is no more the Queen and I am sure I wouldn’t mind paying an extra 20/30/50 rupees if that extra 20 ton could be cleared and everybody could be living clean. The other thought that runs across my mind right now as I write this is the saying, “Charity begins at home” if this is so then why are the homes in Darjeeling so clean but everything else is a mess!!!
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!!
[Written by a VERY CONCERNED DARJEELINGEY]
-----------------------------
The DC editorial note: We thank the writer for highlighting this important issue and for bringing to focus the fact that if we can care for our houses, then why can't we care for our beloved Hills?
हाम्रो पाहाड छ र नै हामी बाच्येको छुंग... हाम्रो पाहाड हामी ले गर्दा बांच्येको छैन
Let us take care of our beloved hills
Source: DC
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