Whenever I visit India, (my home country) every year, I discover something new and it?s truly amazing experience to find out the status of much talked about ?development? happening in the most diverse country in the world.

One major change I observed this time is that the concept of protecting our environment and doing something for it are now picking the momentum in many places. This indeed is an encouraging experience for a person like me. 

 This time I had visited one of the most visited tourist places Simla/Manali in Himachal state which is a lovely hill station. Because of the huge tourist inflow to the small town, lots of garbage and plastic is generated in the landfill which chokes the water drainage system and pollutes the environment also. This is a major problem being faced since last couple of years. As a part of the steps taken by the local authority, use of plastic bags is now banned in the total area. It?s really a great experience to see a town without plastic bag?

 During the tour itself, I came across a news report stating that any person throwing garbage in the Beas river will be fined for Rs 100,000/- ($ 1600/-) by the Govt. I feel this is a very positive step taken by the authority and this will change the habit of the people to dump the garbage into the river.

 But all the pictures are not so rosy!!!! While these are the few positive views during my recent trip to India, I felt very sorry to see the common scene on the street in many cities (Kolkata, delhi?). The water taps provided by the Municipal corporations are without proper taps and water is flowing through the pipes and wasted in a large extent. I am more pained at the scene that very few people are bothered to this costly wastage?.

Hope to see a better picture in near future.

The newspaper article from Indian Express