When Garbage Started Piling in His Town, a Nagaland Constable Started Collecting It Himself!

When garbage started piling around Pfutsero, a town in Nagaland, Constable Neingupe Marhu decided to go beyond his call of duty to tackle the problem. Every day, he drives around in his van before and after work, makes multiple trips to pick up garbage himself, and disposes it safely in a dumpsite.

In Pfutsero, which is the coldest inhabited place in Nagaland, garbage started piling up in hordes when garbage trucks stopped coming entirely in the month of March. The problem has been left unaddressed because the town committee is more or less defunct and the region hasn’t held urban local bodies (ULBs) elections in years.

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Realising that it was up to him to take on the responsibility, Neingupe pulled out his Maruti van and turned it into his own garbage truck. Speaking to The Wire, he notes, “I would see the dustbins overflowing with garbage on my way to work and back every day. I couldn’t take it anymore. I thought I am a public servant, why not I do something instead of complaining about it and waiting for the town council to wake up to it. So every day, for the last one week, I have been picking up garbage before my duty starts in the morning and then after work.”

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In a span of a day, Neingupe makes about 14 to 15 trips to drop off garbage at the dump site and has become a local hero. Many have taken to social media to praise him.