CUTTACK: As Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) is often found wanting in maintaining civic amenities, a group of youths has joined hands to address the civic issues of Cuttack city. The group of 64 comprises college students, professionals, and businessmen and has been named Bidanashi Yuva Shakti. Since 2015, they have been voluntarily carrying out different civic and social works in and around the city.
On Monday night, the volunteers cleaned the road stretching from Bajrakabati to Dolamundai. They scraped the sand from the stretch within two hours. Heaps of sand had accumulated on the road stretch causing frequent accidents.
“We tried to draw the attention of CMC through Twitter and also its helpline but no remedial measures were initiated. So we decided to clean the road for the safety of the commuters,” said 28-year-old founder president of Bidanasi Yuva Shakti Abinash Mohanty, who also works with a private company.
The condition of Mahanadi Ring road near SCB MCH parking and Kathajodi ring road near Belleview square too has worsened due to the accumulation of sand. “Despite tweets and complaints to the civic body’s helpline, the CMC is yet to reply or comply. Hence, we have decided to go clean the two places on Sunday, Mohanty informed us.
In 2015, Mohanty formed Bidanasi Yuva Shakti in association with his friend Girish Behera who works as a delivery boy for an online marketing agency. Now, the voluntary organisation’s strength has grown to 64 members. While 17 members are from different parts of the city, the rest are from the Bidanasi locality.
Recently, the youths repaired the 700 mtr road from Bidanasi Baula Chhak to CDA by placing concrete slabs. The portion of the road was in bad shape with some slabs missing and causing accidents. After CMC turned a deaf ear to the problem, the youths came forward and repaired the same by spending money from their own pockets. The members of the organisation are also taking care of defunct street lights, sanitation and other civic issues.