Sports Stadiums: The Waste Generation Hubs?
When the Indian cricket team is playing against a rival, the only priority for the entire country is the team’s victory. The spectators in the stadium are too nervous to pay attention to anything else. How does it matter where you throw the plastic water bottle or the biscuit packet, as long as the batsmen score centuries and the bowlers get hat tricks? It is this attitude of the stadium-goers that generated 10 metric tonnes of waste in 2016, in New Delhi, during the Indian Premier League matches.
According to a plea filed by an advocate from the capital, biodegradable, non-biodegradable waste and domestic hazardous waste i.e. food remain, plastic wrappers, packets, bottles were lifted without segregation after the IPL matches. According to a Times of India report, the plea challenged that during the last IPL, no certificate was produced to the effect that segregated waste was handed over to waste collector or agency specified by local authority i.e. NDMC. “Even separate dustbins were not placed to ensure segregation of waste,” the plea stated. Additionally, the non-disposal of waste in accordance with the SWM Rules, 2016 would result in an unhygienic and unhealthy condition in the city.
Who can be held responsible for this waste generation? The Corporation of Thiruvananthapuram answered this question, by kickstarting a campaign to hold the spectators answerable. “My waste My Responsibility” is an initiative with an aim of zero waste during the 3rd India v/s New Zealand T20I match. The match is scheduled on 7th November. Shashi Tharoor recently expressed his support through a tweet saying, “Sports lovers shouldn’t create a garbage problem.” This campaign not only aims to minimize the garbage due to the spectators but also wants to ensure the provision of waste segregating garbage cans, which will be manned by volunteers.
This campaign is a step in the right direction, but it should not be restricted to cricket alone. Recently, the Under-17 Football World Cup, to which India is a host, was in light for the same reason. New Delhi is one of the six cities hosting the matches, the municipal corporation, along with the Sports Authority of India deployed sanitation workers in and around the venue. Hindustan Times reported that the civic agency of South Delhi installed 100 pairs of dustbins (green and blue), each at a distance of 30 meters around the stadium. Also, 13 big dustbins were installed around the stadium for the collection of garbage by sanitation workers.The collected garbage would be immediately disposed of with the help of two mobile compactors.
The government can start as many campaigns as it can, but it comes down to the individual. Cleanliness in the public sphere is every citizen’s responsibility.
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