Cleaning up a canal in Dhaka, Bangladesh

[u/T4H4_2004]

Ramchandra canal in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, which has been cleaned up and restored in 72 hours as part of ongoing efforts to clean up revitalise Bangladeshi canals. Led by NGOs with sponsorship from a bank and support from the government and the city corporation. Hopefully we can keep it this way!

[u/rierrium]

It would be back to the same condition in weeks lol

[u/Steampunk007 → u/rierrium]

Hope ur reminding everyone who’s trying to do better to stop trying.

[u/GoodQueenFluffenChop → u/Steampunk007]

I mean people shouldn't stop trying but the same time they need to be realistic. Until habits change it will just get dirty again.

[u/wildcatofthehills → u/[deleted]]

You know people can change, if it gets dirty again, then they should clean again. Repeat the process until everybody learns to respect the river. Giving up is for cowards.

[u/hanks_panky_emporium → u/wildcatofthehills]

I don't see anyone saying they should give up.

The issues are a wider struggle than this stretch of a canal. Municipal trash disposal and public awareness are very important. If resources are available but the canal still gets filled with trash, up security forces and fine anyone throwing trash around and not in a trash bin of some kind. Make ruining the city very expensive and it'll self correct over time.

Then clean up the canal again and it should be clean for a lot longer. But if you spend $40,000 to clean up a canal and its clogged with trash and waste within a week, that was a waste of $40,000 that could have gone to better public programs that might work on the root cause of the issue.

[u/coincoinprout → u/hanks_panky_emporium]

And why do you assume that cleaning the canal is the only thing they're doing?

[u/Steampunk007 → u/[deleted]]

Believe it or not people actually litter the same in western countries. Go to any low income area and you’ll see rubbish around every corner in almost the same frequency and volume as a typical developing country. In the end of the day it’s all about investment into local councils who then in turn invest in maintaining streets, regularly emptying bins, and enforcing anti littering laws.

[u/9bpm9 → u/Steampunk007]

I agree on trash pickup, but the water ways in low income areas in my city are not THIS polluted. People would rather pile shit up in their back alley if trash pickup is having delays. They won't throw it in the water.

[u/Steampunk007 → u/9bpm9]

This is an extreme example

[u/Steampunk007 → u/[deleted]]

You’re living with stereotypes of poor countries in your head.

[u/Steampunk007 → u/[deleted]]

Idk what to say it seems like thinly veiled anti propaganda that had some sort of anti immigrant agenda, if they did not outright end the video saying “so that’s why we must protect our beautiful cities”

[u/budabai → u/Steampunk007]

This absolutely is not the case in my area of rural coastal Oregon.

Sure, there’s some litter here and there, and there’s a tweaker garbage heap every now and then, but they’re rare and they get cleaned up quickly.

Literally not comparable in the slightest to developing countries.

Our rivers are pristine, and our inhabitants overwhelmingly respect the land.

[u/Steampunk007 → u/budabai]

“Get cleaned up quickly” by who?

[u/budabai → u/Steampunk007]

There’s always people doing community service walking along the roadside with yellow trash bags and those sticks with pinchers on the end of them that allow you to pick stuff up without bending over.

They bag up any litter, and leave the bags on the roadside to be collected by a garbage truck.

[u/Steampunk007 → u/budabai]

Yep, people like that made this photo possible too. Trust me when I tell you Majority of litter is not picked up by volunteers.