This is a picture of “downtown” Port Blair. It is crude. I have a thought about what I would do if I had this visit to do over.
I would not plan any excursion. I would have bought 20 or 40 Glad garbage bags….the 30-gallon ones with hand ties.
I would have bought some Rupees. The exchange rate is about 50 Rupees to the dollar, but 200 Rupees (ie $4.00) are enough to pay for laundry service to an entire month.
I’d have recruited young kids at about 10 Rupees per bag to clean up the litter in downtown. I’d fill bags myself. Then, if I had no other choice, I would hire Tuk Tuks (motorcycle tricycles for two passengers) to haul the filled bags back to port. If the ship would not take them, I’d pill them up and leave. I’d have someone video record all this (so if some official got crappy about this, I have film).
This could be a totally pointless effort, as the city would likely be littered again within one week. However, I would have enjoyed the effort. For $20 or so, I could have shown them what a litter-free downtown would look like.
One passenger to whom I mentioned this idea said that they saw a poster that said “no plastic film over x-mils thick permitted to be brought into Port Blair.” So this idea might have had a problem. (What misguided legislation exists…don’t allow someone to pick up the town!!?)
Anyway, this is a thought. If someone planning to come later think this is neat, let me know if you do it. It truth, the sights (jail, temple, market) are not that special, so I think this alternative plan could be a fun idea to try.
I would not plan any excursion. I would have bought 20 or 40 Glad garbage bags….the 30-gallon ones with hand ties.
I would have bought some Rupees. The exchange rate is about 50 Rupees to the dollar, but 200 Rupees (ie $4.00) are enough to pay for laundry service to an entire month.
I’d have recruited young kids at about 10 Rupees per bag to clean up the litter in downtown. I’d fill bags myself. Then, if I had no other choice, I would hire Tuk Tuks (motorcycle tricycles for two passengers) to haul the filled bags back to port. If the ship would not take them, I’d pill them up and leave. I’d have someone video record all this (so if some official got crappy about this, I have film).
This could be a totally pointless effort, as the city would likely be littered again within one week. However, I would have enjoyed the effort. For $20 or so, I could have shown them what a litter-free downtown would look like.
One passenger to whom I mentioned this idea said that they saw a poster that said “no plastic film over x-mils thick permitted to be brought into Port Blair.” So this idea might have had a problem. (What misguided legislation exists…don’t allow someone to pick up the town!!?)
Anyway, this is a thought. If someone planning to come later think this is neat, let me know if you do it. It truth, the sights (jail, temple, market) are not that special, so I think this alternative plan could be a fun idea to try.
1 comment:
actually, that plastic legislation is supposed to prevent litter. What was happening in India was plastic bags were getting in the sewers and clogging everything up. that is why they started the plastic bag thing. As you have discovered, there is no sense of India of keeping things clean
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