The indiscriminate dumping of garbage along roadsides and outside residential houses has become a growing nuisance in several parts of Dimapur, causing inconvenience to residents and raising serious concerns over public hygiene, environmental sanitation and civic responsibility.
What is particularly disturbing is that such dumping is not always carried out by people from disadvantaged sections of society. In many instances, people who appear to be well-off and come in cars and other vehicles are seen disposing of household waste along roadsides and outside other people’s homes. Having access to vehicles and coming from educated or financially comfortable backgrounds should ideally be accompanied by a greater sense of civic responsibility. Yet, the practice of simply throwing garbage out of vehicle windows or leaving waste at roadside locations reflects a serious lack of civic sense.
Residents should not have to tolerate garbage being dumped outside their homes by others. Apart from creating an unpleasant environment, accumulated waste can produce foul odour, attract stray animals and insects, clog drains and create potential public-health hazards.
The issue also raises questions about the responsibility of the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) in maintaining a clean and hygienic urban environment. When residents are paying Residential Sanitation Fees (RSF) and the municipal authorities are undertaking waste collection, there is a legitimate expectation that garbage will be properly collected, transported and managed rather than being allowed to accumulate along public roads and residential areas.
DMC needs to take cognizance of the problem and strengthen enforcement against indiscriminate dumping. Vulnerable dumping points should be regularly monitored, accumulated waste should be cleared promptly and those found illegally dumping garbage should be penalised in accordance with the applicable rules. The installation of surveillance cameras at chronic dumping points could also help identify offenders.
At the same time, the public must recognise that municipal sanitation cannot succeed without basic civic sense. Paying a sanitation fee does not give anyone the right to dump waste wherever they choose. Citizens have a responsibility to use designated collection systems and ensure that their waste does not become a nuisance or health hazard for others.
A clean city cannot be achieved through municipal action alone. It requires responsible behaviour from citizens as well as effective enforcement by the authorities. The fact that even educated and financially well-off citizens are sometimes seen casually dumping garbage is a reminder that civic sense cannot be measured by one’s social or economic status.
Citizens have a right to live in a clean and healthy environment. Municipal authorities, meanwhile, have statutory responsibilities relating to the collection, handling and management of solid waste and the prevention of improper disposal.
If persistent dumping continues despite complaints and the payment of sanitation-related charges, affected residents may ultimately be compelled to explore appropriate legal remedies, including approaching the High Court or other competent environmental authorities like National Green Tribunal, to seek enforcement of applicable waste-management obligations and the removal of garbage from public spaces.
The objective should not be confrontation, but accountability. Dimapur needs both responsible citizens and a responsive municipal authority. Those who dump garbage on roadsides must understand that a public road or someone’s residential wall is not a dumping ground, while the authorities must ensure that the city’s sanitation system delivers the clean and healthy environment that residents are entitled to expect.
Apong Ao
Resident of Dimapur
Tuesday, August 18, 2026