HYDERABAD: On a regular Saturday evening, the BS Maktha by-lane opposite Landmark was suddenly abuzz with activity. Students of CSIIT Architecture College, other youngsters and kids, armed with cans of paint and brushes, could be seen painting the stained walls of the locality.
These group of enthusiastic youngsters have taken on to themselves to give a facelift to the by-lanes of BS Maktha. However, this has nothing to do with GHMC polls but is a joint effort by a group of youngsters along with the residents of the colony.
The enthusiasm level was not down a bit even at 2 am, when youngsters could be seen drawing graffiti on those white-washed walls.
These youngsters are a part of the ‘Meri Galli, Meri Shaan’ group, an initiative of the Marri Chenna Reddy foundation. And they have taken upon themselves to do what the civic body should have otherwise done.
“Nothing can get worse than the present state of affairs in the locality,” says B Shwetha, an architect, whose office is located in the colony. Shwetha also happens to be a part of the MGMS group.
So what prompted them to take things in their own hands?
To this, Adithya Reddy, Chairman of the MCR foundation, says: “ We have been doing a study on the conditions prevalent in various localities in the city. Situation was pathetic and so we initiated something called Hyderabad 360. We selected BS Maktha as our pilot project.
Our approach was purely scientific and therefore we started with taking measurements and preparing blueprints accordingly.”
However, no sooner did they take up the work, GHMC was at the scene and the entire stretch of road was dug up in the name of repair works. The works, for the last two months, has not progressed much.
‘’Finally, we decided to initiate things at our level. Our team included students as well as residents from the locality,’’ said Adithya.
Although the works are midway, the change is clearly visible. The walls, which were stained with pan masala till a day ago, bear graffiti now. The team wants to replicate the success of the Colony across Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, as soon as the youngsters took up the paint brushes on Saturday, GHMC executive engineer B Krishna visited the colony. He assured the residents of taking up repair works soon.