10 pm. Sagar Kashyap, a resident of Yelahanka new town, walks out of his house, meets a few cops outside. Has a small talk after which they proceed their way. Wondering what's happening?
It is an exercise by a small forum - 'Citizen Forum' formed by the residents of Yelahanka new town in the year 1997 October to serve the public by practising night vigilance. In this exercise, one member of a family from the area accompanies the cops during night beats ensuring safety of citizens travelling at night, especially for women travellers. Although this exercise was stopped in the month of June 1998, since the police department extended their force and started conducting night beats four times at night, the Citizen Forum has taken up other responsibilities. A.Padmanabha, the vice president of the forum said, "The exercise resulted in reduced crime rates and we even managed to capture two gangs who were trouble-makers."
The forum's initiatives
The forum and its members have now decided to establish widespread awareness to people about their rights and improving the current state of the area. Apart from night vigilance, the forum has been trying to receive all the civic amenities, improve living conditions of the township, promote social activities like music, dance and sports competitions, etc.
Today they have brought down the crime rates drastically and saved the Puttenahalli lake by cleaning the lake on August 15th along with 300 people.
Now they have saved the Aleksandra lake, which was encroached by officials. In the year 2003, BWSSB treatment plant was emitting huge amount of smoke with a foul smell which caused the school children to vomit and fall sick Today, after constant efforts of the forum, the intensity of the smell and smoke has reduced drastically and within few months they expect it to stop completely.
Green glow project was a initiative started four years back to make school children and college going children to preserve the greenery around them by planting more trees, picking up waste that is found lying around, protecting forests and maintaining an eco-friendly environment. To promote this among the children they have organised many competitions relating to environment and made the children actively participate in them. Out of 24 schools found in Yelahanka new town, 14 have registered under the Green Glow project to create a greener society.