Rs 10,000 prize to help maintain the localities cleaned by participants
Rs 10,000 prize to help maintain the localities cleaned by participants
Hyderabad: It was pure cleanliness that made up the place:
Over 23 professionals coming from different cross sections of the society united for a cause they all believed in “cleanliness.”
Responding to the DC Clean Drive contest, Hyderabadis, from businessmen to advocates to government employees, bank managers and professional swimmers members of the L.B.
Stadium SATS (Sport Authority of Telangana State) swimming pool — took to the streets with brooms to clean up the main road at L.B. Nagar. Jaiprakash Singh, director, Sujatha Group of Educational Institutions said, “On Oct. 22, (a day before Diwali) 23 of us decided to clean up the main road in front of the swimming pool.
The garbage was piled up on the discarded traffic police booths, which was not only an eyesore but also a breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes. This area is now clean and we are proud of our clean up. We are happy that we made a small difference in making our surrounding and in turn our city clean.”
“It was voluntary and a collective effort by all the swimmers, brooms were donated by Mr Jaiprakash. It took us almost four hours to clean up about two truckloads of garbage. We also cleared the garbage behind the swimming pool (near the LB Nagar police station).
The GHMC co-operated by bringing their garbage trucks and JCB to aid in the removal of the garbage. We plan to do such events in the future and also encourage others to take it up,” added Hajera Abbasi.
Once it started, no stopping:
The Ugly Indian, a Bengaluru page, inspired six city architects to start the “Hyderabad Rising” team. The group not only cleaned up the dirty Chaderghat bus stop, but painted the wall behind the stop as well.
Founder of the group Darshana Pawar Moyal said, “This particular place witnessed major traffic jam as the bus stop was filled with garbage and stench, and people were forced to stand on the road. So Hyderabad Rising decided to not only clean it up but paint it as well.
With a budget of Rs 3,500, funded by all the members, we cleaned up the garbage, lifted the broken bandis where men used to urinate and re-moved the creepers and posters from the stand.”
“People who could not attend the drive helped with funds. We believe in action, not talk,” added Tauqeer Ahmed. “For now, we have workers cleaning the place every day. We have also tried to use religious symbols in a bid to stop people from littering there,” said Rajshree Akula.
The group is now witnessing a spate of requests as many want to volunteer and are excited about cleaning up their spaces. Those who took part in the drive were Darshana Pawar Moyal, Tauqeer Ahmed, Praneeta Velluri, Rajshree Akula, Mydhili and Divya Kruti.
Here, you can help giving it a second look:
The remarkable work by volunteers of ‘Vijayawada Needs You’, which was highlighted in the DC Clean Drive contest, is still attracting passers-by as well as commuters at the bus stop on the NH in the city.
Volunteers of Vijayawada Needs You (VnU) and the NGO MAD, along with students of VR Siddartha College of Engineering, School of Planning and Architecture jointly took up the task of cleaning the bus stop near the Ring Road.
Unfortunately a day after they sent the pictures for the DC contest, the walls of the bus stops were pasted with posters of ABVP. “What hurt us was that one of the largest student organisations in India did the irresponsible act. We immediately reached the bus stop and removed the posters and took it to the notice of local ABVP activists,” says K. Naga Sravan, founder of VnU.
“The next day, ABVP activists turned up at the bus stop and removed all the posters,” he added. Pointing out at the work being done by government officials as part of the Swachh Bharath campaign, Mr Sravan said that the difference between government officials and a group of dynamic youngsters could be seen on the ground. The group has received appreciations from the public and mostly on Facebook where they post pictures.
The team who include Anirudh Rayasam, Praneeth Jonnalagadda, V. Chakradhar, Veera K., Nikitha and others. Those who participated in the drive include Anand Reddy. G. Arun Kumar. Y. Bajrang Jain, Eashwar A., Krishna Reddy. G. Mahinder, Md. Madassin , Narasimha Rao D.M., Nooruddin Jewani, Satyanarayana, K.Y. Shiva Raj. N, Ghulam Yezdani, Hajera Abbasi, Krishna Reddy, Mahender Reddy, Malanna, Md. Vaseeuddin, Nagan-der, Praveen Kumar, S.M. Hussain, Sunder Raj and Udaya Bhaskar.
They have a clean record:
Residents of Jagannadharaju Nagar, Old Venkoji-palem have ensured that their colony is neat, clean and green for the past four years. The colony has also won The Clean Drive campaign initiated by Deccan Chronicle.
Dr K.S.R. Murthy, president of the colony told DC: “The cleaning operation has not started because of Hudhud or Modi’s Swachh Bharat movement. We’ve been cleaning and maintaining our colony since four years. As our colony is in a low-lying area just beside the NH, there’s a lot of dust and pollution.”
Jagannadharaju Nagar was one of the first colonies in the city to have cleared its roads, even before GVMC reached to help. “Hudhud occurred on Oct. 12 and on Oct. 13, most of our colony residents were on the streets trying to clear the uprooted trees to make way at least to walk.
“We follow the policy of ‘Why wait for someone when we can do it by ourselves?’ We cleared the roads, replanted uprooted trees and on Sunday, the colony residents cleaned the drains and canals,” Dr Murthy said, adding, “Seeing the colony elders working towards clearing the debris and cleaning up the roads and parks, even kids and the youth came forward and we worked together as a team.”
Dr Murthy added, “What Modi, Naidu or any other politician is currently propagating, we have been doing since four years. Because the inspiration was already instilled within us by our own colony members, we have taken up the cleaning activity seriously.”
“DC’s Clean Drive campaign has surely given us the chance to work better and showcase our work,” he said.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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