Dirty Towns

Thimphu and Paro are considered metropolis of Bhutan. I am a person living in remote Bhutan and my initial thought about these two places was that they would be two very clean cities. Recently I and my family visited these two places. Surprisingly I found that they were but two dirty towns. The drains at the heart of the town were stinking. Septic tanks were overflowing. The drains around the centenary vegetable market were clogged and produced foul smell. The stairways to some buildings were filled with toilet stink. A manhole on the city's highway was kept open. Somewhere below Kelki HSS a construction site had left a septic tank open and the air around it was polluted. I nearly fainted holding my breath till I crossed the site. Roadsides were strewn with sanitary pads and kitchen waste. The two places got even worse when there was rain fall. 

I asked to myself: Is this the Thimphu and Paro that was presented to PM Modi? Is this what we present to the tourists? Is this the best we can do with the country's top two towns?

Looking at the people living in these two places one would not expect the two places to be so dirty because people are dressed in clean and fashionable dresses. They have maintained very good personal hygiene. But their personal hygiene has become so personal and selfish that it has not gone beyond keeping their own bodies clean. Everybody looks least bothered about cleaning the places around their houses.  

When I posted about this on facebook, one of my friends commented - 'So what do you think the municipality should do?'

I replied-

'Well! The onus is on the people living in these towns. Leaving the work to be done by the municipality or a govt. organization would be being too irresponsible. Urban dwellers should learn to clean their living places. We believe that they are better educated than rural folks. It would be too unfair to ask the municipality or a govt. agency to do the work. It would be like blaming a person for a wrongdoing done by another.'

PS: This post is based on the observations in downtown Thimphu and Paro. It may not be the case with the places at the outskirts.