Shocking behaviour from ‘Responsible Persons’

Believe it or not, the picture of waste material you see the crows picking through is not of that from a slum area but a very posh one in Islamabad. And guess who threw it out? Someone sitting in an expensive car who needs to get some lessons that garbage needs to be disposed of in its proper place, so that the city remains clean. You could expect such behaviour from uneducated persons who do not know the first thing about how important it is to keep the environment in which you live clean and green but when so-called ‘educated’ persons indulge in such carelessness it is truly shocking! This person or persons had probably come to an event in a nearby facility and wanted to ‘grab a bite’ as they say before entering the venue. The remains of whatever was in the package must have been substantial (what a waste when people are starving) for the crows to collect and start picking at it. The bag had the name of a fast food outlet printed on it, so someone had probably bought a burger or some such item, eaten enough to satiate himself — or herself — and thrown the rest out along with the container and the plastic bag. If they had to throw out the left over food that is somewhat acceptable because it is always cleaned up by scavengers like crows, mynahs, stray cats and dogs but to throw out the containers is almost a criminal act because it is against the norms of responsible behaviour. We are constantly criticizing the civic authorities about the fact that they do not clear the garbage from the city but even if they try their best they cannot be successful if the people who live in the towns and cities do not care or are not accountable for their actions while disposing of their rubbish. After all it’s not only their job but ours as well to see to it that our cities remain clean so that we can be proud of the fact and not cringe every time we step out of the house and see heaps of garbage everywhere.