Then the mound of the dead, today it is the living!

Then the mound of the dead, today it is the living!
Our history text books and the people who romanticize the past speak proudly of the great cities of the Indus( saraswati?) culture. Of their sense of hygiene, sanitation, the drains of each house connected to the main drain etc. What is not possibly spoken is the efficient administration and the sensitive people that made it happen. Our school volunteered for a project , floated by CSE Delhi, wherein we were to document the supply of water and disposal of sewage in the city we reside. The survey and the visits we made threw light both on the ineffective distribution system and the apathetic attitude of the public!
How many of us know as to on what basis is the demand of water estimated? What are the norms followed in the distribution system? The role of the politicians and general public in manipulating norms thus making the system ineffective and chaotic is evident everywhere!Yes , UGD is a must for good sanitation. But are the public educated about its use and its maintenance? The officer showed us a list of items that choke the drains .. solids of all sorts .. bisleri bottles, hospital gloves, syringes, cotton waste, disposable cups, plates, spoons, junk food packets , iron rods, gunny bags…..the list goes on….It was moving to hear to the officer saying..: ‘ madam cleaning the drain is worse then lifting night soil and it is hazardous!!” Surprising how all such items enter the closed drains?Simple the person who gives connection to the UGD feels it convenient not to use wire mesh and a p trap that stops such items entering the drain!
Wasn’t proper waste disposal a part of our culture? Cleanliness and hygiene has different meaning in our Indian understanding. Cleanliness for us was very restricted to ablutions and madi. As we adopted modern style of living,we failed to educate ourselves about the need to understand the demanding definition of it. So Hon Kalam. it is easy to understand why people who visit Singapore can only say that country is so clean … and not practice it in their own lives when they come back! ( the new menance of speaking loudly in cellphones in public places , transport comes as no surprise to us! until a law is made!!) The plague of Surat, the floods in Mumbai , Chennai and Bangalore soon fades from public memory .A harappan walking down the streets today may see people living in conditions that might put him to shame and agony! He could also wonder as to why the culture of cleanliness and sanitation not passed on… what mighty force stopped it from being passed on!! Any answers??