Let me give you a reference before I come to the point. This blog is regarding two Mumbai issues (issue no. A0141 and A0125 on ChangeBhai); both of them pertaining to the same problem –  Garbage at the gates of a society called Divya Gunjan in Kandivali West.

The users reported the issue to ChangeBhai and we got it cleared through Assistant Engineer Environment – KW Ward of BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). The issue was closed. Fantastic! Sab khush..

Hardly a day or two passed and voila!, there comes the garbage again (grrr…at exactly the same spot). I look into the issue and get furious thinking “What the hell is wrong with BMC! The user cannot report the same issue again and again. Why can’t they place a damn bin there so that people can throw the garbage in it?”

AFTER-2

Since we, at ChangeBhai solely rely on the information shared by the concerned citizen and the respective authority, I decided to personally get in touch with the user for the feedback and the need to take up this issue with BMC strongly. The user informed me that the BMC has placed a bin close by but nobody wants to throw the garbage in it, it seems.  Holy mother of all Gods, Nooooooo!!!

So, what to do now?  Should the user keep on reporting the issue on ChangeBhai again and again whenever he/she sees it? Sounds stupid, right?

We love to point fingers at the authorities at the drop of a hat. Am confused. Who to blame? The authorities for not running after each person (who is looking for a place to throw the garbage) to ensure he/she throws it at the right place or the pathetic civic sense of the citizens (people living in and around Divya Gunjan in this case)?

Our motto is to work ‘with the authorities’ and not ‘against them’ and after having interacted with a lot of municipal corporations across the country, I can tell you for sure that most of our perceptions about them are exaggerated.  They do want to help us. But, do we want to help ourselves? We doubt.

There are new lessons to be learnt at ChangeBhai with each passing day.  It is as much about ‘Citizens ko Samjhao’ as it is about ‘BMC ko Pakao’. Ah! The sad realities of life at ChangeBhai!