CHENNAI: For this residents’ association in Chromepet, Independence Day and Republic Day don’t get over with just hoisting the flag and distributing sweets. They make use of these national holidays to do more than just invoke patriotism in the younger generation.
For the past 40 years, the Chromepet New Colony Residents’ Welfare Society has been honouring social and civic activists in the area for their contribution towards bettering the locality. So far, around 130 such residents have been recognised by the association since its inception in the late 1980s.
Among them are RTI activists, people who worked towards saving waterbodies, residents who fought to get rid of encroachments from Poromboke land, those who have planted saplings and more. During the Republic Day celebration held on Sunday, around six such activists were felicitated. Long-time residents recalled how everyone in their colony used to wait for such festivities.
One of the recipients was Paneerselvam, an auto driver who has been fixing potholes and craters with sand and stones, using money from his own pocket, for many years now.
Another resident, Meenakshi Sundaram, has been providing medical aid to destitute men and women, and beggars. “Everyone in this locality knows about Meenkashi Sundaram. Whenever he sees beggars suffering with leprosy, he immediately buys a soap and gives them a bath in a nearby public toilet. He has admitted many destitute persons to the hospital and paid for their medical expenses. We want to keep identifying people like him and honour them for their selfless acts,” said V Santhanam, a long-time member of the residents’ welfare society.
Residents responsible for the complete rejuvenation of Nemilicherry lake were also felicitated. Kanchee S Ganesan, who was the main man behind this effort kick-started the revival of the lake six months ago. Close to 4,500 lorry loads of garbage was removed from the lake.
"Initially, the lake appeared flat and rainwater used to flood our houses. When we started desilting the lake, we found heaps of garbage up to 10 ft high that had reduced the depth of the lake. Now, the lake is brimming with water," said Ganesan, who crowdsourced Rs 18 lakh to revive the waterbody.
Another such resident is G Raghavan, who has been giving orphans and destitute people a meaningful cremation since 1983. He has taken the responsibility of cremating those who have no family or have been abandoned in old age homes.
"Irrespective of religion, caste or creed, I help in giving people, who have been abandoned by their family, a proper cremation. I am in touch with old age homes across the city, which alert me when someone, who doesn’t have a family, dies. When I started this service, municipal lorries used to get rid of such corpses. I wanted to put an end to this," shared Raghavan, founder of Sri Gayathri Trust. More power to their ilk!