It’s easy to take for granted the relative cleanliness of your surroundings when it’s all you know, and it’s safe to say that most of the people reading this will no doubt have grown up in societies equipped with the resources necessary to keep their local communities — streets, rivers, parks, etc. — free of litter and pollution, or at least clean enough not to have their health threatened. Sadly it’s not that easy the world over, and for the communities seen below such basic and essential resources aren’t (or weren’t at the time of the photos being taken) available.
Marilao River, Bulacan, Phillipines
Above: The Marialo River in Bulacan, Phillipines, was classified in 2007 as one of the “Dirty 30″, a list of the most polluted places in the developing world. At the time of the survey, it was found that industrial waste was routinely dumped in the area’s river system.
Yoff, Dakar, Senegal
Above: Scenes from Yoff, a small town just north of Dakar, Senegal. A sea of litter stretches from local homes down to the coast.
Mumbai, India
Above: A hideous but all too common sight in the slums of Mumbai, India. Locals avoid the waste by walking along the enormous pipes that carry clean water to affluent neighbourhoods.
Naples, Italy
Image Sources: Above: Amazing photographs from Naples in 2008, at a time when a garbage crisis had caused chaos in the area due to the local mafia’s inability to control the local garbage industry for one reason or another. The crisis has since been contained.
Citarum River, Java, Indonesia
Above: Workers valiantly attempt to clean the Citarum, one of the world’s most polluted rivers, during a clean-up operation that began in 2008.
Estero de Paco, Manila
Image Sources: Above: These rivers in Manila are apparently so dense with litter that small animals are regularly seen running up and down in search of food. The resultant odour is said to be unbearable.
This is real face of India
Yes, like your face.
How can you say it’s the real face of India when the photos are taken from all over the world? Yes, India has it’s problems, i’ve been 9 times and seen the piles of rubbish in different parts of gthe country, however the solution is in educating the people, thats the governments resposibility. Mumbai has 10,000 people a day moving into it, a conservative estimate is a population of 15 million, you could probally add another 7 million to that. How do you keep a city of that size clean?
Every country has real faces… Not just India
Real face of India?
One of the many faces but not the only. There are so many more beautiful things to see but because of people like you India is only stereotyped as a dirty country. Maybe its time you opened your eyes and visit the country. And If you live there then I suggest you stop cribbing and start appreciating.
Wow, that is truly amazing, I had no idea it was so bad. WOw.
Unfortunately we have become the worlds first throw-away culture. What would you guess 80% of it is packaging from other goods? How sad, and how to clean it all up?
I was Naples, Italy 6 weeks ago, it has not been “contained.” I have pics right in front of the train station where there are giant piles of trash on the streets side walks, everywhere. It was impossible for me to describe to people they just can’t imagine how bad it can be.
Yup, and the problem will never be fixed because no one cares enough until they are in the situation, but the only people in the situation are poor people without power.
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Hahahaha. I?m not too brhigt today. Great post!
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India stinks!!!
Well, my garage has several of those places beat.