Bharati Chaturvedi is teaching rag pickers to pick up the pieces. By Reshmi Chakraborty

There were four things Bharati Chaturvedi never wanted to be, “An MBA, an IAS officer, a banker or a CA,” she laughs. Banking’s loss was environment’s gain.

Bharati, 33, runs Chintan, an environmental research and action group and retains the same passion for environment and conservation that she had as a student in Convent of Jesus and Mary and then at Hindu College, Delhi, few years ago.

The Right Track
The green streak has continued into her life afterwards. Bharati was part of an NGO, Shrishti, and writing on conservation issues, when she decided to research the subject that was to become her committed cause. “During my MA in Indian History, I spent a year walking around Delhi and its outskirts, meeting rag pickers and getting a good understanding of environmental waste and how it’s dealt with.”

It turned out to be one of the most interesting years of her life. “I met labourers, recyclers, plastic manufacturers and everywhere I asked for as much information that I could gather. I was even thrown out by a ‘kabadiwala’!”

Bharati is closely involved with toxic and solid waste. “Toxins released into the environment have severe effects on women’s health causing cancers and serious reproductive problems,” she says. Having brought out extremely useful books on the plastic bag menace, she feels that it’s not enough to have awareness and information. “It should translate into action, which doesn’t happen. For example, some neighbourhoods indiscriminately burn assorted waste that can emit hazardous poisons.” This is where Chintan steps in.

Picking The Pieces
An important part of Bharati’s work is with rag pickers, the silent and deprived community of people who help to keep the city clean. Chintan has been helping these people survive better on the street. “We do that through skill building and helping them access medical health facilities,” she says. Thanks to their work, the rag pickers have been given first aid kits sponsored by the Inner Wheel Club, Delhi.

They are also being trained to treat waste in the city, which is often indiscriminately dumped by everyone from residences, industries to clinics. “Medical waste mixed with municipal waste does pose danger for them,” says Bharati who holds regular meetings with rag pickers on Sundays to discuss these problems.

Chintan has also created a clothes bank for rag pickers and has partnered with Syndicate Bank to enable them to open accounts. “Earlier they would save in small amounts and had no place for safekeeping,” says a happy Bharati as she talks of these efforts.

“In Delhi, only 30 per cent of rag pickers are kids, the rest are young adults and many rag pickers were farmers, drivers who are forced to take it up due to the scarcity of jobs.”

Has their work brought about any change? Yes, the results show in the confidence of the rag pickers, says Bharati, also cautious to add that changes cannot happen overnight.

The animal lover who believes in working for something only when her heart is completely into it, feels what is important, is changing the attitude of people towards waste management.

“A dirty street is a reflection of the people who live in that area,” says Bharati. She does blame the government for abdicating responsibility on such issues but adds that public action is the need of the hour. “If you can’t step out and take responsibility, who will?”