Life in a Dumpyard by Shukla Banik

 

It’s one of those rare early mornings when I am wide awake. The narrow green stretch, in-between two rows of houses in our block, is looking so green and clean drenched in the morning mist. The ominous-looking banyan tree, home to many interesting creatures, seems alive with its daily morning activities. A devotee is offering 'jal-abishek' at its feet to improve the karmic wheel of his life. Another man, a rather overweight uncle, is jogging to bring his ever expanding belly under control. Just a few feet from this place, our neighbour's bored labrador is emptying his bowel. Few squirrels are prancing nearby looking for food. A flock of sparrows safely perched on the electric wires high above are chirping away to glory, teasing and taunting the cat lying in wait on the nearby wall to nab his breakfast. A beautiful parrot is furiously making inroads into a juicy looking wood-apple with its strong beak making a fine mess with its sticky waste oñ the Honda car parked below . Butterflies of many colors and designs are flitting from one flower to another in search of the illusive nectar. I was sitting on my balcony, quietly sipping horlicks (yes, call me a pseudo-bong who prefers horlicks to tea) when a sudden chug-chug-thwack-thwoosh interrupted my idyllic tryst with nature. It seems the corporation truck is on its daily prowl to collect the waste from the dumpyard situated at the end of our lane. I rush inside to close all the doors and windows.  Why…. Well, that’s the story.

My family was allotted a residential plot at F block, C R Park which is situated right next to Govindpuri extension. During allotment (1971) our block was sandwiched between a huge cow-shed (khataal) at one end and a dumpyard at the other end. The dumpyard, at that time, was a grey circular structure with low walls of not more than 7 ft height. With its top open and one entry point, it used to always overflow with waste deposited by the surrounding residential blocks. The dumpyard was situated exactly at the corner of the E & F Kali pujo park facing the opposite lane of our house. Most of its circular wall was covered with mounds of earth belonging to the then unruly park giving it a look of a small volcano. Due to infrequent retrieval processes, it used to be always full to the brim with waste resulting in spill-over not only on the roads flanking the dumpyard but also into nearby residences and lanes. Meat or fish bones, rotten vegetables as well as certain unmentionables were a common sight. These unmentionables enriched our concept of biology much faster than the actual school lessons. Cows, pigs, dogs, cats, crows used to feast on these waste regularly. Sometimes they used to carry and dump these stuff right in front of our houses making an even bigger mess.. Then there was a double attack from the cow-shed in the form of regular and fresh download of cow dung. Our poor suffering lanes used to look like an extension of the dumpyard. Those were the days when mosquitoes became our best friend and 'Kachua chaap macchar dhoop' a necessity. 

While elders complained, argued and sulked, children of our society learned innovative ways of playing in the park. No one was allowed a shot/throw towards the dumpyard while playing. Punishment was the same for everyone without gender bias - "FETCH IT YOURSELF". Suffice it to say that the fetching experience in the dumpyard was quite distasteful. This punishment was borrowed from our east Delhi friend. Due to the manual drainage cleaning system at East Delhi during that time, the nullahs' running parallel to each lane used to overflow with many interesting stuff including human excreta. For self preservation, children from these lanes invented the trick of 'Fetch-it-yourself' and we shamelessly copied their example. 

Both the cow-shed and the dumpyard were later relocated by the authorities. While the cow-shed moved to a distant part of the city, the dumpyard moved only a few meters from its original position of facing our opposite lane to facing our lane. The reconstructed structure is now a square shaped one-storey building with high walls and closed top. The waste management process (collection, storage, retrieval) is quite efficient, organized and regular nowadays. There are separate boxes to segregate waste now. Not to mention dedicated staff, apart from lane-cleaners, to keep the dumpyard in ship-shape condition. However, every time the  waste retrieval happens, the foul stench emanating from the rotten food in the dumpyard forces us inside to our designer pot pourris and room fresheners. 

Everyday we throw out so much garbage from our homes, shops and offices.  Wrapping materials on almost all the food products such as grains, pulses, spices, breads, biscuits, milk or oil go out as garbage.  Food which turns stale due to consumption excesses goes out as garbage.  Be it groundnut shells, discarded beverage bottles, used train or bus tickets, waste paper, old clothes, shoes, bags, furniture, broken bathroom fittings or electrical parts, etc. etc. we keep generating humongous amounts of garbage daily without batting an eyelid.  None of us are actually bothered beyond the ‘Cleaner Bhaiyya’ coming and collecting rubbish from our premises.  Someone I know lives very close to the Okhla landfill area.  Over the years, they literally saw an empty stretch of land turning into a hillock full of garbage.   I shudder to think what they must be facing on a daily basis. 

Garbage!!! It has become such a huge part of our life.  Be it physical or emotional, we are always surrounded by it. We do nothing except argue, sulk or look the other way.  Some even enjoy playing around it to suit their selfish needs. We complain only when we get disturbed by the stench.  I wonder how much pain and suffering we need to endure before all of us can stand together and forcefully say “Enough is enough…. Let’s clean the mess”.