GANGABAI’S STORY
Yasmin Khala continued, "The women were very unhappy about the situation and even came to me for advice. I said I could try and speak with some officers in the department but I wasn't sure how long it would take. Then it was Gangabai who said that it is the Ward Councillor who we should go to and protest since we are the ones who elected him. She gathered a small group of women and went to his house. They began shouting slogans in front of his house and he came out and asked them what was wrong.
Gangabai described the situation in the locality to him. He promised to go with them the next day to meet the Commissioner. He asked Gangabai to get a petition signed by all of the adults in the locality saying that garbage was not being collected. He suggested that taking the local sanitation engineer with them the next day might be a good idea. The sanitation engineer could also speak with the Commissioner and tell him how bad the situation was. That evening children ran from house to house making sure that as many families as possible signed the petition.
The next morning a large group of women and the Ward Councillor and the sanitation engineer went to the Municipal Corporation office. The Commissioner met with this large group and began giving excuses saying that the Corporation did not have enough trucks. But Gangabai smartly replied, "But you seem to have enough trucks to collect garbage from the rich localities".
"That must have left him lost for words," quipped Jehangir.
"Yes, he said that he would take care of it immediately and Gangabai threatened that if it was not done in two days a larger group of women would protest in front of the Corporation," said Yasmin Khala. "So did the streets get cleaned?" asked Rehana who never let things remain unfinished.
"Well not within two days and then after another larger and noisier protest the sanitation service in this locality became more regular."
"Wow this sounds just like a Bollywood film with a happy ending,” said Mala who already began imagining herself in the lead role of Gangabai.
The children enjoyed hearing Gangabai's story immensely. They had sensed that Gangabai was much loved and respected and now they understood why. They got up and thanked Khala for answering their questions and then, before they left, Rehana said, "Oh, I have one last question Khala. The two dustbins that we have at home now, are they also Gangabai's idea?"
Khala began laughing. "No, not really. The Municipal Corporation was the one who suggested that we do this to help keep our streets clean. When we sort our own garbage it reduces their work."
The children thanked Khala and walked back down the street together. It had become quite late and they needed to get back home. For some reason, the street seemed darker than usual. They looked up and then looked at each other smiling and ran right back to Khala's house…
More to know
Recycling is not a new thing. People like the man in the photo above have been recycling paper, metal, glass, and plastic for a long time. The kabadi wallah plays a major role in recycling household plastic and paper, including your notebooks.
Activity:
1. What was Gangabai protesting about?
2. Why do you think Gangabai decided to approach the Ward Councillor?
3. What did Gangabai say when the Commissioner said that there were not enough trucks in the city?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
PALGUE SCARE IN SURAT
The city of Surat had a plague scare in 1994. Surat was one of the dirtiest cities in India. Houses, hotels, and restaurants would dump their garbage into the nearest drain or street which made it very difficult for sweepers to collect and transfer the garbage into selected dumps. In addition to this, the Municipal Corporation did not collect the garbage as often as it should have and this led to the situation getting worse. Plague spreads through the air and people who have the disease have to be isolated. In Surat, several people lost their lives, and over 300,000 deserted the city. The scare of the plague ensured that the Municipal Corporation completely cleaned up the city. Surat continues to remain one of the cleanest cities in India.
Activity:
1. Do you know when and how often garbage gets collected in your neighbourhood?
2. Do you think it is the same for all neighbourhoods in the city? Why not? Discuss.
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK