What constitutes pollution? In common parlance we are not too particular about defining it because in practical daily matters, most of us know what is polluted and how. However, when environmentalists use the term casually it is cause for concern. Unfortunately many environmentalists tend to define pollution in terms of daily usage. I believe that pollution should be defined as: a state where constituents of a substance are harmful for a particular situation. Thus sugar would not be a pollutant in food items but would be one in gasoline. The constituents of a banana peel would not be pollute if it had not lost some components that are part of a fresh banana, and so long as it had not gained other substances from the environment that help it to rot. While our food is being processed in the intestines it is not polluted but when it is excreted, it becomes extremely pollute matter. Then on, till it gets reabsorbed in the earth as manure it is pollute, after which it again ceases to be pollute.
On the other hand, defining cleaning is simple: the act of removing! It may be removing a pollutant or an undesired non pollutant. By removing other objects from a substance, it naturally becomes more pure to a certain extent. In absolute terms purification is the act of removing all other kinds of matter except that which is to be purified. Now if we were to remove all non-biodegradable material from compost, we may be able to claim that the matter is pure compost; which is to say entirely pollute, except for fertilizing the soil.
The three distinct concepts of pollution, cleanliness and purity may be used as substitutes in conversation, but in matters of urban solid waste in particular and management of litter in general they must be used carefully in order to ensure public health and sanitation. The operative word is pollution in its very specific meaning, as a damaging substance for our environment which should be managed in such a way that it doesn’t harm human society. The animal and vegetable environment/ecology of the human habitat must also, therefore, be safeguarded in the management of pollute urban-rural solid waste and effluents.
Many of my friends find it exasperating that a villager who used to fetch his water from a well for home consumption does not realize the need to close taps in a public space. It has often proved futile to remind them that the villager did not close the well or stream from which he brought water and did not close a mug or lota from which he later used it. This person would remember the effort it took him to get water and may appreciate the facility of running water but must be educated about the fact that a tap is not a stream; it does not flow at the will of nature but has been manufactured by the art of humans.
Another cultural disconnect is the fact that the common Pakistani has been taught to not retouch a place that was touched by a hand that was pollute after the polluted hand had been cleaned to make it Pak. A tap head is such a place; that is why advanced technology has invented heat sensitive automatic taps and air dryers. A man from a small town may now be flabbergasted by ‘inoperable faucets’ which suddenly come alive.
The Pakistani elite find technological advancement fascinating and wishes that all that we see abroad should be duplicated here. The pace of technology and the object of scientific research are both determined/defined by the society of developed countries. This is partly because they have already taken a direction of growth, therefore their citizens desire that improvements should take place in those facilities; and partly because they are dependent on the scientific infrastructure that already exist. Both these imperatives are embedded in their cultural evolution over several centuries, resulting in a highly irresponsible trend of non-biodegradable and non-recyclable items of daily use produced in large quantity.
The basic issue in case of domestic urban effluents is that their flow is restricted by solid waste in drains; the problem is further compounded by the greasy matter from kitchens. A simple solution, after the removal of solid waste, is to maintain cleanliness of drains by flushing them periodically. This can be done by causing a flood of water to pass through them at regular intervals; which does not need participation by the community. However, this will not reduce the level of pollution in the water, nor will it extract maximum value from the normal drainage of water or that which is passed to flush the drain.
The Iranians are able to extract the maximum from flushing drains by making kachcha drains along roads and footpaths. They plant trees in the drains to provide shade, greenery and healthy air. They also have other expedients for maximizing the use of scarce supply of water. Since these require very high standards of communal ethics, we need not target them just yet. They also have the advantage that their food is not quite as greasy as ours; therefore kitchen effluents are less polluted. Perhaps we can motivate our communities to harvest drain water for vegetation, with a level of community participation in ecological management, especially in areas having a substantial middle class, to manage a perpetual water harvesting for parks, greens and ‘commons’ within a three drain system:
A closed drain for feces and excreta leading to shallow soakage pits where capillarity could provide water for shade giving trees without fruits for human consumption.
An open drain for rain and bath water which could be harvested for crops, vegetables and edible fruit plants for beautification of environment and healthy local food supplements. The state could assign a portion of state land as usufruct for such communities.
A third open drain for kitchen effluents which may filter the cooking grease through earth and sand for gardening and grass within the larger residential plots
Naturally industrial, commercial and hospital waste would need the municipal and local government to negotiate separate planned disposal of solid and fluid urban waste.
In the context of social reconstruction, enforcement through the police is like a charge by the cavalry in a battlefield. Legislative execution and enforcement may be achieved by the judiciary which is the custodian of the constitution. However enforcement in the form of military campaigns or aggressive subjugation will not be able to hold ground in social matters without political support. This is equivalent to infantry occupation of conquered territory. To carry the analogy further, communal or social backing is the logistic support essential for maintenance of a society’s cultural capital. To clean streets and drains or to organize communities, when they are in a state of chaos, is like a military operation but permanent conquest will only be achieved if non-biodegradable waste is minimized and the citizens acquire the habit of environmental maintenance as is the case in Iran.
The government campaign must start with educating society regarding the need to refrain from using plastic bags, thermo-pore and establish rapport with its officials. At present, people [and many government officials] deal with state as an alien, colonial organization. They are not even embarrassed at undermining governmental plans if a personally valued individual can benefit. Often government functionaries volunteer help for circumventing legal hitches through loopholes because they feel empathy with a common citizen. Unless we inculcate a sense of belonging for the state in our society, this sham democracy will not work. It is essential that the establishment [military and civil], governments [federal, provincial and local] and communities/classes [economic, ethnic and social] don’t remain disconnected. The elite must take the lead since they are in a position to remove barriers; while the commons are not even in a position to approach the elite.