New Delhi: Remember Raj Kapoor serenading Nargis in the pouring rain under the black umbrella? Now try and picture that in a dystopian future where Mr. Kapoor is protecting Nargis from acid rain as they pick their way through a street littered with steaming garbage.

Yes, that lovely memory of our favourite romantic Bollywood song- Pyaar Hua Iqrar Hua …… is in serious trouble.

The metropolis of Delhi produces 8,500 tonnes of solid waste, 5,000 tonnes of electronic waste, 500-600 million gallon of sewage and 10 metric tonnes of bio-medical waste EVERYDAY.  ONLY 5% of this gargantuan figure is recycled, although as much as 50% of the waste is fit for composting, about 30 per cent of it can be recycled.

Recycling holds the key to much of the urban waste we produce and dispose. In order to bring some attention to this issue, Karma Recycling and Delhi, I Love You, in collaboration with artist Shaily Gupta bring to you THE DIRTY PICTURES. Designed by Gupta the images in the campaign are a chilling reminder of the looming Garbage disposal crises, as well as a humorous take on littering our most sacred most loved Bollywood.  The idea is to draw attention to the waste management debate by using iconic Bollywood imagery and subtly introducing rotting garbage into the dreamy Bollywood utopia.

The campaign also launches a unique online platform – recycleyourwaste.in, which lists contact details and garbage solutions for all kind of waste. This webportal promises to be the one stop directory for all Delhi based waste management solutions.

“We dispose mountains of solid and electronic waste daily as a nation with little thought of what it’s doing to our precious natural resources or to the environment. We wanted people to think about waste, and what our cities may look like if we’re not responsible with its collection and treatment. What better way to do it than through art and Bollywood imagery! If people could love their cities as much as they love their movies, choosing to segregate, reuse, and recycle their paper, plastic, and electronic waste etc, we’ll leave a cleaner world behind for the next generation” says, Akshat Ghiya, Co-founder & Director, Karma Recycling.