Because elected members are not owning Gokarna Gram, they are just its caretakers, they have to abide to the rules and guidelines in order to accomplish their duties.

Indeed, they have the choice to care or not to care

They are free to do not care, naturally, but if so, they abandon their position in GP

The most of GP members fully lack the sense of responsibly towards environment, and they are shameless about it!

If not they to show the way, then who?

They should have taken some actions long ago

  • direct management of waste at all wards
  • Awareness program for general population
  • Training to GP workers
  • Every member should drive a weekly clean-up
  • Every member should present a plan for his/her activity in the ward
  • Each drive might involve volunteers and impart awareness on cleanliness, preservation of the environment and prevention of pollution.
  • Handbill with Waste and Plastic Waste Management rules should be distributed,
  • Posters and banners should be fixed
  • A report of the achieved work with photos depicting the place before and after should be communicated to the EO
  • A monthly random monitoring should be conducted by chosen stakeholders.

Everyone would then be involved and moved following GP members: it’s my area ‐ I will keep it clean!

But instead …

our Sarpanch

who seems to ignore everything about the Solid & Plastic Waste management rules,

who actually ignored Khushi Parisara requests to comply to Gram Panchayat duties to implement them,

who, moreover, not only ignores as, still more, breaches the Panchayat Raj Act concerning the duties of GP members on waste management,

who is not only violating, as also sanctioning all violations of these rules

our Sarpanch has shown also her full disregard concerning environment, concerning Swacch Bharat Abhyan, concerning basic swacch, concerning her duties ordering PDO to stop waste collection to blackmail hierarchic powers early 2017, when the toll was closed by Tahshildar.

If she had taken care of framing the byelaws on penalties for littering, dumping, burning, selling and using banned plastics in Gokarna, if she had cared for the plan of waste management and its due fees, she would have collected by now MUCH more cash than what was collected at the toll closed by Tahshildar and the current destruction of Gokarna environment could find ways for its remediation.

Until when will she be irresponsible, unimputable and unpunished?

 

The law is clear about “waste management” explaining that it consists in the collection, storage, transportation, reduction, re-use, recovery, recycling, composting or disposal of it in an environmentally safe manner.

It is not anymore as previously to move waste from one place to another, as it was the case of Kottitirtha clean up attempt, dumping the waste at the coconut pits of Belle Hittalla.

To soundly harmonise all these varied clusters requires, today, what the law also obliges: a waste management plan that has to be drawn by GP elected body.

Before that, there is no waste management, only, again and again, to move garbage from one place to another, without recovering resources, means, without reducing production of waste or recycling it (or even upcycling).

That, definitely we oppose, and we are doing all that is possible to prevent it.

 

Until when

drains are dumping places and  clogged with garbage, that finally will end up at the ocean?

drains are sewage outlets from toilets, finally ending up at the ocean?

GP is promoting waste burning in village and “landfill”?

 

“inaction would be a crime against future generations” Narendra Modi

Actually, inaction is a crime committed every day by our Gram Panchayat.

It is called ECOCIDE.