Advaith Pramod Rakhi
Our second day in Switzerland. A bright morning! We all assembled in the Computer Lab of St. Michael’s College in the morning at, sharp 8’o clock. We were asked to prepare on the subject decided for discussion with Mr.Thiery Steirt, the Mayor of Fribourg.
At 10:30 am, we all moved to the Conference hall of the college for the discussion. We had an informative, interactive session with the Mayor. It was a lively discussion on environmental protection and queries about waste management, traffic management, road maintenance and beautification of Switzerland. He responded to the queries raised by us. We were all amazed by the systematic and timely intervention of the Government in keeping the country clean.
Some of the inputs received from the session is as follows:
- Is Waste Management taken care of by the Government or by an external agency?
The wastes that can be recycled easily are being handled by the Government directly, and other waste disposal are outsourced.
- What about use of Incinerators?
Incinerators are used, but the harmful pollutant gases are treated, filtered and released into the atmosphere environment friendly.
- Do you recycle wastes?
Yes. Recyclable wastes such as plastics are recycled. Others are incinerated, locally.
- Being the largest producer of waste in Europe, what is the strategic management that keeps the country in the top position with regard to cleanliness?
The population of Switzerland is around 85 lakhs, less when compared to some of the other European countries, but they are still in top rank as the largest producers of waste. But systematic management techniques, strict rules and its enforcement enable us to keep the country clean. It is also the people’s attitude towards their country, and their awareness that helps the Government to manage effectively. The waste management is also de-centralized for its efficacy.
The discussion lasted for an hour.
Although we are not that qualified to analyse the methods used in Switzerland and in India, we all wish such a system could be introduced in our country too to make it clean. But we know the population of India is around 130 crores whereas in Switzerland it is 85 lakhs only. India is the 7th largest country while Switzerland is in 132nd position. Even our state of Kerala has got four times more population than Switzerland. With all these constraints we should somehow try to adopt some methods and attitudinal change among the public to make our country clean, and our citizens proud, when compared with international standards.
After the lively discussion we had a quick look at a collection of preserved specimen of various animals and insects in the school.
At noon we went to the college canteen for lunch. Mashed potato, sausage and green peas. A different decorous to the appetite!
Afternoon session was marked for games. We were provided with dress and accessories to play according to the rule there. The indoor court was big and the coach was there to help us. He gave a brief description about dodge ball and ping-pong. Dodge ball was very interesting and after that we were quite tired. After taking rest for some time we went to another room to play ‘ping-pong’ or as we would say table tennis. Most of us knew how to play but were playing for the first time. Some of us hit the ball so hard that it just flew away! Ping-pong is all about control and balance and only 2 or 3 of us were able to play properly.
Then we played a combined game with all the students where the winner would be awarded a premium Swiss chocolate. Luckily for us, John – one of our friends won the game and he got the chocolate (Although we ate most of it).All of us were cheered up and happy. Then we went to the dressing room, changed and assembled in front of the library.
By evening we were back in the home of our hosts by train – the cleanest transportation ever seen by us.
Later in the evening some of us visited the local water treatment plant that the Mayor mentioned during the discussion. On the whole, it was a wonderful day with remarkable memories!
