We just sleep, snore, and dream about a green valley. They pick the brush and paint it green for us. How did we stoop to the levels where tourists have to clean our Dal for us, asks Basim Amin Bazaz.

Charity begins at home. For Heidi Just and Angela Posh it began a little away from home; more precisely, 5760 km away (as suggested by Google Earth). Heidi and Angela from Switzerland and Germany respectively had come to visit Kashmir for its natural beauty. Ironically, a fortnight later, they found themselves cleaning the dying Dal.  On 17th of July, the Eco Plus supplement of Greater Kashmir carried this report, “When tourists turn saviors.” It left me dumbfounded.  The more I think about it, the more I realize how big a slap this is on our face; the face of selfish Kashmiris.
The once amazingly beautiful Dal Lake is dying. There are no two thoughts about it. Not only has its catchment area reduced tremendously in the past few decades, whatever is left has turned into a garbage dump. Even the once picturesque expanses before Nishat garden have turned pale. How bad the interiors of Dal are at this stage, only Allah knows. I found a couple of snaps of the Dal taken some forty years ago. It was truly beautiful. What we have today hardly qualifies to be a lake if we compare. How it will look in another twenty years should be anybody’s guess. Perhaps, just like another Babademb!
Remember this moment; a moment when tourists have been compelled to clean the Dal. For me, this is a historic moment that will decide whether the Dal Lake lives into the next century or not. I mean, if we are not shaken by the fact that tourists are pulling out long-boots from our lakes what on earth will shake us (Long boots better known as laaang boots are shoes used in Kashmir during heavy snow). Yes, long-boots are what we throw into it. At least that is what I identified them to be from the picture showing the stuff Heidi and Angela extracted from the Dal. Mind you there was a whole lot of stuff as well which sadly could not be identified. For a moment I thought I had seen someone’s ‘tille phiran’ and ‘chochi bag’ as well. It may be funny, but it is just too deplorable for us. I simply don’t see anything more drastic happening in future to tell us that it is time to wake up and save our dying environment.
Imagine how shameful it would be, if your neighbor has to come to your home with a broom and start cleaning your mess because it has repercussions for your children. I am sure many would prefer death by hanging. They would do anything to avoid it. But how much have we done to avoid the same. Perhaps, zilch; nothing to write home about, nothing to feel elated for.
How many times have you heard people blame their leaders for not taking their nation to glory? I certainly read it every alternate day. But are good leaders all a nation is about? Definitely not. Leaders can only show you the path. The onus lies on you to get up, make the move, sweat out and take that path. If Kashmir is where it stands today, we can blame the leaders, yes, but we must understand that it is the people that must contribute at the end of the day. If at all there was an iota of doubt in my mind why Switzerlands and Germanys are better than Indias and Kashmirs, it stands cleared today. It is only because people like Heidi and Angela live there and perhaps because people like us live here.
“In absence of any dustbins and legislations against pollution of environment, the lake dwellers seem to have lost their civic sense.” This is what Heidi and Angela have been quoted as saying in the aforesaid article in Greater Kashmir. I think they have hit the nail right on the head. Civic sense; this is exactly the sense we are missing. I truly think that if people are made aware of the consequences of dumping waste into the Dal, things will improve. At the same time it is imperative for the authorities to provide them with alternate provisions for getting rid of their waste. A sense of impunity and ‘so what’ attitude adopted by people has resulted in the pollution of the Dal so far. It would not be a bad idea to fine defaulters or even send them to prison for dumping ‘long boots’ (and other waste) into Dal Lake. If we are brave enough to ban polythene here, why cringe when asked to book people if they pollute the Dal Lake. It should be relatively easier. And I am sure it will serve the purpose.
Talking about civic sense, I remember this small incident that took place some time ago while I was traveling in a public bus (Mazda), I was seated on the window side of the rear bench when the person seated in front of me, for some unknown reason, decided to spit. He spit right out of his window; the window of a moving bus! Obviously the gushes of air pulled in some part of his filthy liquid and sprayed it all over the person seated behind him. Unfortunately that person was me. The kind of person I am, I thought it better to keep mum. However some unknown voice from within me came alive, “It is time to teach him some civic sense.” I patted him on his back. He did not respond. Obviously he had no idea what havoc he had wreaked with my new shirt. I ‘hit’ him on his back this time and he turned. I tried to look him in the eye, trying to be as stern as possible, “Your spit is spread all over my face right now.” Although it was not entirely correct, it was necessary to keep the intensity going. It somehow worked and he apologized. I concluded that he would never spit out of a window again, at least not from a moving bus. I am sure if I ask him not to dump his ‘long boot’ into the Dal Lake he will not do it either.. And I believe a majority of people are exactly like him. But yes, we do need to give them an alternative for dumping whatever they want to and yes spitting as well.

I believe, the fate of Dal Lake decides the fate of Kashmir. Right now, neither looks promising. Seemingly nothing appreciable is being done to avoid this infernal future of ours. At this juncture, this little act of altruism by Heidi and Angela is just what we needed – something deafening to wake us up from our deep slumber. I hope we do wake up from it and start doing something meaningful to save our natural wealth. Allah willing, we will and when we do, I wish Heidi and Angela find a way into the golden books of Kashmiri history, for the nature of the work they just did is something that is capable of bringing revolutions and changing lives.

(Feedback at: basim.amin@yahoo.com)

Lastupdate on : Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 IST