Garbage dumping on roadsides and public places with impunity, continues unhindered in almost every village and town in Goa, and even in the capital city of Panaji. Unfortunately, even some village panchayats are unable to stop this menace and punish violators of the law. The question which arises then is, what has happened to the much-hyped ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ cleanliness drive, observed every year on Gandhi Jayanti , October2 , since the year of its inauguration in 2014? Is it only for a day or two, with photo ops of govt officials and ministers wielding the broom to clean their offices? Crores of rupees have been spent uselessly on this project without any change. Yet, our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not hesitated to launch the second phase of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, with a call to keep our cities and towns clean. Probably, our notion of dirt and public hygiene is different, to say the least.
