CHENNAI: Disowning their suits and Blackberry phones, corporate employees in Chennai took to cleaning the streets near their office space, as part of a ‘June 21, Day of Action’ initiative organised by United Way of Chennai (UWC).
Participants from the corporate world included Cognizant Technology Solutions, Caterpillar Inc and Computer Age Management Services (CAMS).
Speaking to City Express, Shyamala Ashok, director of UWC, said that this was part of a “behaviour change model” that they are keen to pursue and implement. “People living in multi-storeyed buildings find it easy to just throw their waste outside,” she said. “All this junk clogs alleys and lies there stinking because there is no systematic clean-up model that’s implemented,” she added.
Volunteers armed with brooms, and in plain clothes, indulged in clean-up drives at Kannagi Nagar in Thoraipakkam, Spencer Plaza on Anna Salai and MG Nagar at Taramani. The areas will be monitored for a period of 60 days by the volunteers, during which time they will also indulge in many awareness drives to educate residents of the health hazards and environmental problems of overflowing bins and unsafe dumping.
Pointing out the infrastructure model of apartments in the US and other western countries, Shyamala added that accommodating garbage chutes in Chennai’s multi-storeyed buildings is a must, in order to reduce reckless dumping by residents. “It is a proposal that we plan to take up to the Chennai Corporation,” she said, indicating this measure should be implemented as part of the system.