Unmindful habits

The problem confronting the Dimapur Municipal Council has become increasingly serious, not merely because garbage is piling up in several localities, but because the civic machinery appears short of both manpower and materials to deal with it effectively. Public health and sanitation are not secondary municipal concerns; they are the foundation of any liveable human settlement. If a town cannot ensure clean surroundings, safe drainage and basic waste management, then talk of development projects, beautification schemes or urban transformation rings hollow. For too long, civic bodies have treated sanitation as a routine chore rather than a central responsibility. This neglect may have been caused by preoccupation with other projects, administrative limitations or lack of resources, but the consequences are visible everywhere. New Market in Dimapur, once expected to function as a proper commercial hub, now presents a depressing picture. It is dark, congested and unhygienic, shaped by years of unplanned construction, civic indifference and public apathy. Garbage remains uncollected for days. In many colonies, residents do not even see a garbage bin nearby and are left to dump waste at street corners, drains or vacant spaces. This is not merely an aesthetic problem. Hygiene is health, and the absence of hygiene is an invitation to disease. The municipal authorities must recognise that waste management, drainage and sanitation are not optional services but essential safeguards for public life. At the same time, citizens cannot absolve themselves of responsibility. Too many people dirty their surroundings at will and then expect the civic authorities to appear overnight and clean everything. Public apathy toward filth, stench and disease-bearing conditions has reached an alarming level. A civic culture must be built in which residents understand that cleanliness is not someone else’s duty alone. Dimapur’s drainage problem remains one of its most persistent and dangerous challenges. Poor or absent drainage leads to stagnant water, contamination and the slow poisoning of the urban environment. Dirty water seeps underground, while countless cesspits continue to discharge putrid waste into the soil. The cumulative impact on underground water reserves can only be imagined. This is a public health concern of the highest order, yet it seldom receives the urgency it deserves. In such a situation, neither Dimapur nor Kohima needs cosmetic urbanism in the form of expensive decorative lights, costly monuments or symbolic concrete structures that add little to everyday life. These projects may create the appearance of development, but they do not answer the citizen’s most basic need: a clean, safe and healthy environment. Fancy lights require maintenance and power bills; monuments require space and money. Sanitation saves lives. Food vendors and eateries must also be brought under stricter scrutiny. Many continue to operate in unhygienic conditions with little regard for public health. Public should not view regulation as harassment but as a necessary protection for consumers. The true purpose of civic bodies is to protect the health environment of citizens, provide essential services, and then build amenities. That order must not be reversed. The state urban department should prepare a clear blueprint for all municipal bodies, defining priorities, responsibilities and standards of performance. Civic bodies must not be reduced to supply or construction agencies. Their functioning should be streamlined before elections are announced, so that they serve the public interest rather than themselves. Dimapur needs sanitation first; everything else must follow.