Rubbish is stewn everywhere in Rajasthan: plastic bags and food packets lie on the streets, gutters and footpaths, and in the waterways and lakes. Sometimes the rubbish is collected into piles, and sometimes it is burnt on the footpath. I have only seen one rubbish collector who was pushing a small hand cart and picking up individual pieces of rubbish with the help of a small shovel. He wasn't having much of an inpact on the mess.
Most of the organic rubbish is eaten by the many cows, pigs, dogs and goats which are an intrinsic part of the streetscape, so for the most part, the rubbish doesn't smell.
We saw one street in Pushkar that was immaculately kept, when we were travelling in a tuktuk on the way to the temple on the hill. On the next street there was a dead pig lying in the gutter.
Perhaps if Mr Modi solves the "black money" problem, there will be taxes to pay for rubbish collection. However, he will have to change the attitudes of the locals, who almost inevitably just drop unwanted items on the ground.
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| This seemed to be a playground - grassless and dusty. |
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| Village cows fossicking for something edible amongst the plastic |
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| Two of the few rubbish collectors I saw |
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| Sadly a very common site in most towns and villages. |
Sue
