A walk by bike

After reiterating the obstacle in the ‘know your ward’ step at least 10 times, we came up with an explicit action of meeting well identified community people. Who were they? Organizations of people in the informal sector! Yes they exist and they very well have a proper formal structure. I still don’t know why they are called informal sector but they are so inevitable part of the society. The surroundings are clean because of them and they are not even doing it by choice. Who would like to put our hands in the dirt themselves? This reminds me of the Marathi movie ‘Fandry’, It’s a must watch.

So I get a couple of contact numbers to start with. Having a phone number feels like such an important step to start with! Wonder what they did to meet new people when there were no phones? They are among the staff of the organization which works in solid waste management in the city. It’s a cooperative and works with the PMC. I called up the moment I got the number and asked for some time. One brick of inertia broken! Once I get the time I would surely be present for the meeting.

I didn't sound that attractive on the phone. He agreed to give me time but postponed it last minute to the next day. I was ready to go wherever the person would be on the field but he insisted he comes to my office to meet me. He appeared an hour late on the postponed day. I was skeptical about the meeting when AM disbelieved that people from that particular organization could be like that. He was right. Once I met the person and detailed him the reason of investigations (!), he was very much an open well where I could draw as much water as I wanted. He had all the time in the world to show me around and speak to me. Also, the work and the people involved demanded that he doesn't work according to the watch but according to the need of the time. I couldn't blame him for not coming on time. Anyway, punctuality is not a basic virtue, it’s a secondary one. (I have debated within myself about it and I am an opportunistic punctual person!!)

We decided to go by bike as we had to cover larger area and visit 3 – 4 spots. But this was very much a part of the tool ‘Ward walk’ and he was very much a key informant about the prabhag that I am working in.

The world that didn’t exist in my world was the world he lived and worked with. This was almost the first time I was going to connect to this world officially. He took me to an elite society where they had recently started composting within the premises. The reasons to start were amazing. The person who used to collect the waste from the society and dump at the public waste bin nearby was punished by PMC for doing so. (What! I don’t believe this. It’s like leaving the thief and punishing the saint ‘Chor sodun sanyashyala bali! ’) So the organization intervened and started a dialogue with the society. An enthusiastic woman who is the secretary of that society got convinced and managed to convince everyone. They segregate 100 % of their waste at source. A compost pit is made in the premises itself and the dry waste is sold out to scrap. Wow!! Wish everyone does that.

When asked about the specialties of the ward that he perceives, he says, ‘So many literate people, so many foreign returned people, so many politicians and still the state of solid waste management is so bad.’ There were some more that he mentions other than these like; the staff of the organization gets better salaries in this area compared to the other city parts. This area is a mix of newly developed area and old habitation. A colleague of him joins the discussion at a sorting shade + an organic waste composting (OWC) unit run in premises of a national organization for last 5 years successfully. The in-charge of this task from the staff of the national org boasts to have this unit on their campus and mentions how happy they are to have it. The OWC machine is underutilized and hence they are approaching residential societies nearby to take their waste. Of course, the residents inside the organization and outside it don’t segregate their waste at source.

The major problem that they face is apathy of citizens towards segregation at source. It is such a simple thing to do but the attitude comes in between. The most civilized, sophisticated argue that they pay for the service, they should get it. What they don’t understand is the cost does not include the service of segregation, it’s an individual responsibility and everyone has to do it not just morally but legally as well. The staff to some extent has even accepted that the citizens are not going to change their attitude and has been asking for well equipped (! A washroom, some drinking water and a shelter on the head) sorting shades instead. But even that doesn't sound important to the formal sector of the society.

They have demanded their basic needs to the administration and to the elected representatives but all in vein. I am sure the other side of the table will have their own reasons to share. These people also filled up the PB forms last year and followed it up with the Ward office only to receive no feedback on their suggestions. They look forward to making the PB process more transparent and accountable. They also realized that filling up the forms after group discussions would help than individual submissions.

On the way, he also shares the interesting dynamics between powerful people in the ward. An aspirant for the post of Corporator runs a private ghantagadi (a vehicle collecting waste from society to society which rings the bell when it reaches in any area, hence the name) free of cost distracting people from a service like their which is fair. He indicates to another man who is pushing a wheel barrow loaded with lot of waste bags and tells me that he earns Rs. 20K from a job in PMC. I am awestruck to know that the person demands that he would continue doing this extra work to earn some extra money above 20K not realizing that by doing so he is reducing the employment of other fellow beings.

When I explained what we are trying to do in 5 wards as action research, even the simple 3 steps of outreach, informed form filling by group discussions and a prioritization by citizens in presence of the administration and the elected representatives sounded a huge expectation. “Will it work?” They asked me. That’s exactly what we want to see if it works or not.

May all realize their responsibility towards the waste they generate and may they use their mind prudently towards the people who make their (formal sector) life better by making their (informal sector) own life dirty!