KOCHI: Strolling through Marine Drive, one can feel a breeze of change. Adding to its zing are a group of youngsters who have been busy splashing colour on street walls in the city. They call it ‘Reviving Kochi’ a joint initiative of Kochi-based NGO KITES Foundation and Thiruvananthauram-based charitable trust Sai Gramam in collaboration with the city corporation.
“The authorities have been focusing on keeping the city areas clean. However, after each cleaning drive, the same spot ends up becoming even dirtier,” says Basila Hamza, district coordinator of the KITES Foundation. “As a solution, we suggested the ‘Revive Kochi’ project. With the help of the corporation, we are cleaning the littered spots, and creating wall paintings to deter people from dirtying the place again. These paintings include elements that represent Kochi city.”
In the first phase, the corporation has identified 10 locations in the city. “Ernakulam South and North bridges, Willingdon Island, and Marine Drive are some of the locations identified. We have started with Marine Drive. Our volunteers are mostly college students,” Basila adds.
“The plan is to complete the cleaning and wall art drive by November 1. At least 20 volunteers work here from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm.” Meanwhile, another positive sight in the city these days are bottle-shaped waste bins at busy locations. Set up in collaboration with the Suchitwa Mission, the corporation has been able to encourage people to sensibly use the facility and disposing of plastic waste in the bins, which are routinely cleared by Kudumbashree workers.