A group of volunteers, led by Professor of Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), M V Rajeev Gowda, took up a drive to clear garbage and fix footpath at Chamundi Nagar near R T Nagar on Sunday.
After launching the Swalpa Clean Up Maadi a campaign to eliminate black spots and garbage pile-up in many areas in the city, he told reporters: “The city cannot be cleaned only by civic agency, responsible citizens and also corporate companies will have to take this initiative.”
The place which they cleaned had been identified as a black spot from the past eight years, he said.
A team of volunteers interacted with the locals and pourakarmikas over the past four days to study the problem. Garbage was removed, footpaths and kerbs were fixed and the black spot was finally eliminated on Sunday.
Prof Gowda also interacted with the citizens and educated them on concepts like nGoG (no Garbage on Ground) to prevent such black spots in the future.
“When citizens come together with corporators and officials and join hands instead of pointing fingers, we can transform Bangalore from a garbage city back to a Garden City”, he observed.
Sudhir N C, whose house is adjacent to the place where the drive was conducted, was happy to witness the change. “The spot was a health hazard not only for me, but a nuisance for the passerby as well. This is a main road of the locality and has been in a sorry state for so many years,” he said.
He requested the BBMP officials and citizens to maintain the makeover.
BBMP Deputy Mayor Indira echoed Prof Gowda’s sentiments.
“The cleaning up of Chamundi Nagar is the reflection of coordination with the civic body from responsible citizens and I hope to see the similar trend in other areas as well,” she said. She added that the BBMP will cooperate with corporate companies which wish to join hands with it in such drives.