DC impact: Students convert Anna Nagar railway station into eco-park

Chennai: ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’, the famous adage of Mahatma Gandhi, is the new mantra of a group of 12 college students.

After going through adverse media reports and pictures published in DC exposing the poor maintenance of the disused Anna Nagar railway station, the students from Da Vinci School of Architecture are now busy with brooms and earthmovers, removing the piled up garbage load.

The abandoned Anna Nagar railway station, which has become a free space for tipplers, is now being swept for the past 2 weeks and the students vow, if provided financial support, to take up the long-term project of creating a public gathering space.

Broken liquor bottles and heaps of garbage occupied the Anna Nagar railway station, which was the extended arm of the Chennai Central - Arakonnam section of the Chennai suburban railway network.

The station became defunct since 2007, due to low patronage, said southern railway officials.

V.A. Varun Varshan, a 19-year-old student from the Da Vinci School of Architecture, who is among the team, told Deccan Chronicle that they would create a park with an amphitheatre, if they get funds.

Students had pooled in Rs 24,0000 to clear the space that worsened after Cyclone Vardah. The officials had not cleared the uprooted trees during the cyclone. “It is a tipplers spot after 6 pm and they broke the seats here. They also use a bushy spot here to smoke ganja,” he said.

Students would be embracing ecological ways in constructing the park, a move that stands as an example to many. “We would be using bamboo and waste tins to create the seating facility. Sliced tree bars would be used for the pathway and no bricks and concrete material would be involved. The proposed budget for the project is Rs 1.5 lakh. We are looking for ways to raise the funds,” said Nitin Kumar, another volunteer.