Friday, October 13, 2017

Of FIFA World Cup celebrations and clean stadiums

The U-17 FIFA World Cup is currently underway in India and the U-17 national team had a commendable outing for their maiden appearance even though they lost all 3 games in the group stage and are knocked out. A first-ever goal scored in a football world cup for India in the match against Colombia could be hailed as the highlight.

In all those celebrations though, images have been making the rounds of all the mess left behind by the spectators. Is it too much to ask for to carry the waste to a bin on your way out? We keep grumbling about the mess at every corner in the country. Forget political weightage to the cleanliness drives. It's just a simple carry-and-drop to teh nearest bin. If it's full and overflowing and you cannot carry the waste to the next bin, no matter. At least the authorities have an inkling that the provisions for the waste are insufficient. Leaving the mess at the seats only makes it that much more difficult to clean.

There have been complaints raised against organisers for the lack of drinking water available, unclean toilets, lack of signage, and where there has been signage, access has been blocked off with no alternative directions available. That is something we need the organisers to own up responsibility for and ensure better arrangements as the tournament progresses.

For now, one step at a time we say. Let's start with ourselves. And the change shall follow.

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