Sometimes I wonder as to what civic duties are being undertaken by some village panchayats, besides collecting house taxes, granting NOCs and licences. Take for example the pathetic state of the Chogm road walkway from the O’Coqueiro circle onwards. The entire stretch is riddled with waste paper, plastic bags, bottles, cow dung, food grains and cooked rice for the pigeons, banana leaves with leftover food, stray dogs, and squatting cattle, etc, all of which are nauseating and adding to the misery of pedestrians and morning walkers. Of late, a few migrants have parked themselves on the walkway, selling their wares, cooking, and even sleeping overnight, in typical railway platform style and gay abandon. A few beggars with children in arms have also recently started pestering pedestrians for food and alms. Is it therefore not the duty and responsibility of the village panchayat concerned to take corrective action and maintain cleanliness and public hygiene of the areas and surroundings in their jurisdiction? Or are we waiting for Gandhi Jayanti week to flaunt our hypocritical cleanliness drive and commitment to the much-hyped ‘Swachh Bharat’ scheme?
