The TWO got back the contract to clean McLeod Ganj
By Matthias Pázmándy, McLeod Ganj
McLeod Ganj drowning in garbage, waste piles smoking, people coughing. This was the sad truth for the last three months in this town. Cows and dogs were spreading the garbage that people reluctantly had to dump right in to the streets since there was no one who came to collect it. People were waiting desperately for the Green Workers to take away their garbage, but nobody came. McLeod Ganj, once cleaner than most urban areas in India had turned to a filthy place not much better than anywhere else.
Now the situation should become like it was before.
What had happened?
The Tibetan Welfare Office (TWO), which was doing waste management and collection in the Upper Dharamshala area for the last ten years, had lost his official sanitation contract by the Municipal Council (MC) to a private contractor. The private contractor had made a cheaper offer to the MC than the TWO. The MC decided to opt for the private contractor not knowing the differences between their services. The latter took the contract literally and only swept the streets, as it was written in the contract, leaving the garbage collection from the containers at the temple and at TCV Rd. to the Municipality itself. The TWO was doing much more than that. They not only swept the streets, but conducted door-to-door collection from households and businesses, emptied with their own trucks the garbage containers, organized mass clean ups, run the Environmental Education Center to raise public awareness and gave environmental education to school kids in the area.
All of the sudden McLeod Ganj became dirty. Since the “licence to clean” was handed over to the private contractor people and insitutions bombarded the MC with complaints about the unbearable situation. Soon the MC not only realized that the service of the new contractor included less and was carried out without any care, but that all together their shortsighted move cost them more money, since they had to drive up their own trucks to empty the garbage containers. And over all they lost popularity among the people of McLeod.
Negotiations started, arguments went forth and back, but time passed without any action. Many people had to throw their waste down the slopes since any real alternative was lacking. To put it on the piles in the streets or in the overflowing containers was the better choice, but still not satisfiying at all. The endless efforts by the TWO were ridiculed.
The Clean Upper Dharamshala-Project
In 1994 the TWO started the “Clean Upper Dharamshala-Project”. In the beginning a completely voluntary initiative, it grew and grew and soon the TWO was able to employ both Tibetans and Indians as waste collectors. The by now well-known Green Workers started to go early morning from door to door to collect garbage. More equipment, like trucks, was donated by foreign NGOs. In combination the Handmade Recycled Paper Factory was set up and started to recycle waste paper and clothes into notebooks, photoalbums and stationery. Those where sold in the Green Shop, which was another part of the ambitious project. In 2000 the Environmental Education Center was opened. The “Clean Upper Dharamshala-Project” was a complete package of environmental action.
The Municipal Council soon understood that they would do McLeod’s environment a big favor in giving the sanitation contract back to the TWO. Legal complications had to be solved. In the last week of November they finalized the negotiations with the TWO and gave the contract back. Many people have already expressed their gratefulness about the change.
From December 1. the TWO does again waste collection. Soon McLeod Ganj will be clean again.
For Information on the schedules of the Green Workers or other environmental matters contact the TWO:
Bhagsu Rd., Ph: 221059, Email: twodhasa@yahoo.com
Matthias Pazmandy is an Austrian currently working with the Tibetan Welfare Office, Dharamshala in environmental projects. He can be contacted at matthias.pazmandy@tele2.at
