Stop treating forests like outdoor bin, pick up your trash

The Aarey land has now got the status of a reserved forest. File pic/Satej Shinde

The steady increase in garbage may be an important driving factor for human-wildlife conflict in the Aarey Milk Colony, a root cause analysis done by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) bears that out.

A report in this paper stated how the NGO mapped each conflict location with garbage spots, and a direct link emerged.

The NGO also claimed that unattended garbage is food for dogs, pigs, cows, buffaloes and hens. These creatures then, feeding off the garbage, become prey or lures for wild cats who come closer to human habitat, resulting in the conflicts we witness - may have unfortunately been a part of or read about.

Even garbage burning, which happens regularly, causes forest fires which, in turn, leads to illegal immigration in the forest. This is one more cause for conflict.

Garbage has to be collected more regularly than allowing mounds to accumulate and then remove them. There must be waste bins installed at every nook and corner. These must be fixed on the ground, screwed on tightly, so they cannot be removed or filched by thieves and most importantly, so that they do not overflow, which would defeat the purpose of having bins installed in the first place.

Even signage asking people not to litter must be installed and be clearly visible. Many may argue that this is a ‘soft' measure as people do not pay attention to signages any way, but every little bit counts in our efforts to lessen the conflict and avoid devastatingly tragic incidents.

People living in and around Aarey, or using the space for commercial purposes, must be alive to the serious and snowball effect of littering which puts the community into danger.

Pick up after yourself and do not treat the forest like an outdoors garbage bin, instead it is a city treasure to relish and cherish.