Holiday Waste

By Holiday Waste, I mean the waste generated after the holidays. When this waste-line increases the results can be disastrous!

Journeying through India in the past few years has been a very pleasant experience. The monuments, architectural marvels and scenic delights are all preserved and taken care of so well. But then I did come across some eyesores too... particularly the water bodies. They are misused and left uncared, the result is waste getting accumulated in them.


Edible fish have ceased to exist in these water bodies due to continued bouts of hypoxia. Most of them I am sure are mosquito nurseries of these scenic sights. It was a shock for me to see the locals washing clothes at Agastyatirtha Tank at Badami in North Karnataka. I did try to talk to the locals; they seemed to be very casual about this pollution.



At other places like in Daulatabad in Maharashtra, the locals blamed the tourists. Much of the waste, the plastic bags and bottles are left behind by the holidayers they said. The problem needs immediate attention of the tourism industry.


How do you handle Holiday Waste?

After every festival or holiday we create a lot of waste stuff; left over food, dead batteries, wrapping paper, packaging, bottles, cans and more. Those that can be reused must be reused, if further reuse is not possible recycle them and then the final step, dispose properly. If only the tourists followed this meticulously, these sight seeing places can leave sweeter memories.

Look at this bird struggling to find a neat corner to sip water from. When will we learn?


Read more: Facts on Holiday Waste.
How to Reduce Holiday Waste

Go by bus

On a recent trip (See Bangalore: Flying in, flying out in Song of the waves - Parayil A. Tharakan Blog) I realized that that there is an excellent bus transport network between the Bengaluru International Airport and the City. This is run by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) with a fleet of Euro3 compliant air conditioned Volvo coaches and non-A/C buses.

Why don’t passengers use this transport system instead of depending on taxis or own cars? Many well-to-do Indians seem to have a hang up about being seen traveling by public transport. If this mindset is changed, there would be fewer vehicles on the roads, less pollution and great saving in fuel.

The BMTC buses are comfortable, cheap, fast and punctual. They ply on 8 convenient routes. Tickets can be booked online and delivered to you. Also available is a unique Home Connect service. You can pre-arrange for a taxi to pick you up from or drop you at the chosen bus stop. (Log on to www.bmtcinfo.com or www.redbus.in). I understand plans are on to include auto rickshaws also in this pool.

It would be great if a few CEOs start using the bus for airport connection. Those who work with them are also likely to follow the example. Imagine the saving if pool transport is accepted instead of each one using his vehicle or a taxi. The transit time can be well utilized with laptops and mobile phones. Actually, at higher levels, most of the work is done in the mind. And, there is no compulsion that one should read a book while traveling.

What are the alternatives for traffic generated by the Electronic City, the farthest point in the Metropolis from the airport? I am told that a helicopter ferry was considered but had to be shelved because the cost would be something like USD100 per head per trip.

Another possibility is the companies in that area coming together to organize a captive bus system. After all, the people who provide solutions to others should be able to solve this one.

Use your car sparingly. Go by bus. Save money, reduce pollution, cut down gas consumption.

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