The lack of trash containers and the lack of environmental responsibility of the population cause the pollution of Tashkent.
Recently, great attention has been paid to the ecological cleanliness of cities worldwide, including Tashkent.
The experts in Uzbekistan note that many factors affect the cleanliness or pollution of cities amid population growth and urbanisation, even such little things as a lack of trash containers.
A CABAR.asia correspondent looked into how this resulted in the pollution of the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, and what can be done to improve the situation.
It is not as if the streets of the capital are not being cleaned. The tourists and guests of the capital note that the city is clean and green. According to the General Department of Improvement of Tashkent city, more than 11 thousand people work in this sphere today. The street cleaners sweep and clean the streets daily, and trash is taken out in due time.
However, residents of some districts of Tashkent encounter an unpleasant situation regularly: plastic bottles, bags with household garbage, cigarettes, and other garbage are scattered along sidewalks and roads.
For a long time, scientists have been declaring that garbage on the streets is not only an aesthetic problem but also affects the environment and its degradation for many coming decades, even centuries.
Polyethylene, plastic, glass, metal, and other materials do not decompose rapidly and affect the environment.
They pollute the soil and waters causing the death of animals that mistake them for food. Toxic substances released during the decomposition of garbage penetrate groundwater, which can lead to mass poisoning of flora and fauna. If a private house in the city has a water well, improper garbage storage on the street can affect water quality and its safety for drinking.
It seems that it is not difficult to complete a simple task: to throw waste into the nearest trash can or container. However, in reality, the situation is far from ideal. Both in the centre of Tashkent and on its outskirts, on the streets and in canals, one can see piles of all kinds of garbage ranging from wrappers and plastic bottles to bags full of household garbage.
There are several reasons for this, according to the experts. First, this is the absence or insufficiency of environmental responsibility among the population. In addition, insufficient or poor infrastructure of the city also plays a role.
For example, according to our own observations, there are not enough trash containers on the long streets of the capital of Uzbekistan.
In general, the standards for installing trash containers exist, but in different cities of the country they are different depending on the environmental situation, according to the urban specialist Yuri Manannikov.
“In Uzbekistan, there are regulations for placing trash containers: every 50 metres on central streets and every 100 metres on other city streets. Combined with the requirements for each store to have a trash can, this would be quite sufficient. When planning the placement of trash containers, the rule that a citizen always has a trash container within sight should be followed,” Manannikov said.
According to the urban planning standards of Uzbekistan (Norms and Rules of Urban Planning 02.07.01 – 03), it is also mandatory to install trash cans near public transport stops and at metro entrances.
It would seem that such a number of legal norms could regulate sufficient and correct zoning for the installation of containers and trash cans in the city but in reality, their quantitative insufficiency is observed.
Last year, Anhor.uz conducted an experiment calculating the distances between trash containers on the central streets of the city. Instead of the expected 50 and 100 metres, the distances reached 400, 700, and even 1100 metres.
Eco-activists believe that the majority of the population is still unaware of the problem of environmental pollution and the lack of environmental education and environmental responsibility does not contribute to improving the situation.
Eco-activist and blogger Mutabar Khushvaktova says that people themselves are to blame for urban pollution.
“When in my blog, I talk about how the city is turning into a landfill and the people who throw out garbage on the streets are to blame for this, I receive a lot of comments saying there are not enough trash containers. However, if you consider the experience of Germany and South Korea, you will see that there are few containers there as well. There are almost none of them on the streets but people do not throw away garbage because they can get fined for it. A city is clean when the community is responsible,” she said.
Mutabar Khushvaktova compares Tashkent to another city in Uzbekistan – Kokand. She visited this city and, according to her observations, there are also almost no trash cans along the roads but the streets are noticeably cleaner.
“It depends not on the number of containers but on the level of people’s responsibility. The people there are very tidy. They do not throw out garbage everywhere,” Mutabar Khushvaktova said.
The experts believe it is necessary to approach the problem comprehensively: install trash containers complying with the system of a comfortable urban environment and strengthen efforts to raise environmental responsibility among the population.
Yuri Manannikov believes that, in fact, most city residents do not want to litter. However, if a person does not see trash cans on the street but sees a pile of dumped garbage, then even “if he is educated enough, he may think that throwing garbage on this street is acceptable”.
“This problem is solved by simply installing trash containers in public spaces of the city. The containers are places where a citizen can conveniently and quickly throw away garbage, and it can be easily taken away by public utility services. Therefore, undoubtedly, trash containers are needed in the city,” the urban specialist explained.
Mutabar Khushvaktova also believes that solving problems with urban garbage requires a comprehensive approach.
“I am all for the city government to create good infrastructure but trash containers alone are not always the solution to street pollution. We need to work comprehensively on this issue. It is necessary to install trash containers, make the infrastructure comfortable for life but, at the same time, do not forget about promoting environmental responsibility in society,” she said.
Answering the question of whether installing trash cans every 100 metres could disrupt the visual image of the city and not fit into its design, as some city officials state, Yuri Manannikov replied that these were just excuses.
“Trash containers can ruin the visual appearance of a city only if utility services do not remove garbage from them, which accumulates there and falls out. Additionally, modern industrial container design varies and they can fit neatly into any environment, from a traditional makhalya [small district – Tr.] to a modern business centre. The main thing is to choose a design that suits the visual style. Any trash container ruins the appearance of the city less than a pile of garbage,” the specialist said.
Garbage on city streets can also affect stormwater systems and canals. Garbage blocks the rainwater drains. Without cleaning the canals, flooding can occur during rains, as residents of Tashkent have witnessed in recent years during the heavy rain seasons.