How and what people throw in public: A photo study of garbage and littering behaviour in Mumbai

Mumbai is renowned for its vibe, character, liveliness and the solidarity among its people. Yet it seems a shame to look around and notice all the filth and litter that is inescapable from view. Of late, along with the Swachh Bharat campaign, a lot of campaigns and citizen movements such as the Ugly Indian, Hindustan Times Clean My Mumbai and the Kachra Project have risen up towards cleaning up; towards a cleaner city and India.

It has been high time for a long time now.

Considering photography as a means to communicate, document and collect data, I observed public spaces like stations and around monuments and observed how people littered, the kind of litter itself, the infrastructure, etc. I attempted to categorise, study and analyse the photographs with some questions in mind related to understanding littering behaviour. I also studied some literature on what influences littering behaviour, including architectural notions, community aspects and existing approaches to manage litter.