NEW DELHI: Heaps of garbage, overflowing drains, paan stains on the walls, and power cables blocking the view of the sky are a common sight in Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid area.
With the government doing little, the local residents had resigned themselves to this state of affairs.
But things are beginning to change, and one can now see some clean streets, vertical gardens, and notices on shops shutters asking people to keep the surroundings tidy.
An organisation called Marham (Muslim Association Rehabilitating Homeless and Mistreated) is working to improve the area with its initiative, ‘Safai Adha Emaan’. Last year, it started a garbage management programme wherein local residents are taught to segregate different types of waste and compost kitchen waste.
Irtiza Qureshi, the founder of the organisation, said, “I have grown up in Old Delhi and seen the lack of environmental awareness among the people. For most people here, global warming and climate change are alien terms. These are the gravest issues the world is facing; very soon there will be no fresh air left. People here are reluctant to change, so we started this initiative.”
The Marham cleanliness drive team, comprising four working professionals, has trained five homeless persons in garbage segregation, waste management, compost making, raising vertical gardens, and calligraphy. The team learnt everything from YouTube.
“The homeless youth and some volunteers are an integral part of this programme as they got employment and they are doing productive work for society,” Qureshi said.
“One of the biggest challenges in implementing this programme was selling the idea to the locals. Some of them were very reluctant; they didn’t allow a dustbin in front of their homes, while some others were supportive,” she shared.
“We keep dustbins at every 10 metres, in front of houses and shops. We ask the residents to put their trash bags in these bins before 10 am every morning, before the municipal garbage collector arrives. We tried to coordinate with the municipal workers to collect the garbage on time,” said Anam Hasan, one of the volunteers.
Funds for the initiative are raised by the core members of the organisation, by crowdsourcing via social media sites. The locals are also urged to contribute, as it gives them a sense of ownership in the programme, Hasan added.
Shazia Bano, a local, said, “Earlier, the area was very dirty, but now that is changing.... While everyone keeps blaming each other and the government for the lack of cleanliness, it is good to see that someone is concerned about our future generations.”
Junaid Mustafa, a hardware shop owner, said, “When the programme started, we thought how could a few people change the area, but it actually happened and we decided to join the initiative.”