TIRUCHY: As dawn slowly brightens the Uyyakondan pathway in Tiruchy, hundreds arrive chasing the first light of the day. Amidst their brisk quests for fitness, fresh air and conversations, Sheikh Ibrahim gears up for a civic mission. Clad in a neat jogging attire, perfected with a cap and sunglasses, the 55-year-old easily comes across as a seasoned morning walker, but one with a charming quirk. Holding a sack bag intact, he makes his rounds along the pathway. Every few metres, he stops, leans down, picks up a discarded bottle, or maybe a wrapper, puts it in his sack and moves on, eyeing for the next target.
Before most walkers along the Uyyakondan channel complete their first lap of the day, Ibrahim of Tiruchy would have already filled half a sack bag with plastic bottles, liquor cans and food wrappers left behind on the pathway. For nearly eight years, this businessman from Dalmiapuram has paired his daily jog with an equally consistent routine — silently cleaning the very walking track he once helped create from what was once an overgrown and neglected channel bund. While hundreds now use the illuminated 800-metre stretch daily for exercise and recreation, Ibrahim continues to see it as something more personal: a shared public space worth caring for, one piece of litter at a time.
Before the Tiruchy corporation laid the present walking pathway with lights and roadside gym equipment, the stretch beside the Uyyakondan channel was barely accessible, Ibrahim recalls. “Eight years ago, many people were struggling even to walk near this channel bund. That is when some of us from the walking club decided to clear the bushes ourselves. Later, based on suggestions from club members, we planted trees along the stretch. Today, all those trees have become part of this jogging track,” he says.
The pathway is one of the busiest public fitness spaces in the city. However, alongside the growing crowds came another problem that continues to frustrate Ibrahim — littering.
“Tiruchy corporation has now turned this into a proper track with infrastructure and gym equipment, but people are still littering and making the place dirty. For instance, during a cleaning drive last week, I alone saw nearly 50 liquor bottles thrown around here,” he points out.
Having travelled extensively to Gulf countries and other parts of the world for business purposes, Ibrahim says the careless use of public spaces in India often disappoints him. “In many other countries, people treat walking spaces almost like their own home. If somebody litters there, they are fined immediately. Here, we still misuse public spaces even after getting good facilities,” he says.
Yet, Ibrahim does not believe in lecturing others about civic responsibility. “I cannot go and advise every person individually. I am not an organisation conducting awareness programmes every day. So, I simply started doing it myself,” he says with a smile.
His silent routine has slowly begun influencing others around him, especially children. “I don’t bore kids by talking too much about environmental science. We just have normal conversations while cleaning and walking. The important thing is they spend time away from mobile phones, and slowly begin feeling that this walking track belongs to them too,” Ibrahim says.
Fellow walkers agree that this simple approach has made a quiet impact. T Bhanu, a regular jogger on the stretch, says Ibrahim’s actions speak louder than awareness campaigns. “It is impressive to watch him. He never gives lectures or talks loudly about awareness. He simply does his work silently. Unfortunately, even then many people still don’t learn,” Bhanu says.
The story of the pathway itself is closely tied to the efforts of members of MGR Walking Club, formed nearly eight years ago by residents determined to reclaim the neglected space.
K Janarthanan, retired forest department officer and honorary president of the walking club, says the greenery visible along the pathway today began with small personal gestures. “We started planting saplings during occasions like birthdays and wedding days. Initially, we watered the plants ourselves using private water lorries. Only later did the corporation lay a borewell and start supplying water,” he says. He also added that the stretch had now grown into a shaded green corridor with nearly 350 trees. Still, maintaining cleanliness remains a challenge despite the increasing number of walkers using the track every day.
According to Ibrahim, another practical issue is the shortage of dustbins. “At present, only three bins are available across the entire stretch and it definitely requires improvement,” he remarks.
His dedication, however, was not always appreciated wholeheartedly. Ibrahim recalls that several people initially discouraged him from handling waste personally. “Some warned me that I could get skin diseases or hygiene issues. But sanitary workers do this work every single day. Compared to them, I am only spending one extra hour during my morning jog,” he says.
Even today, Ibrahim continues the clean-up routine every second or third day whenever he is in Tiruchy. Though business commitments take him to Saudi Arabia for several months every year, fellow walkers say he resumes the routine almost immediately after returning home, proving time and again that actions speak louder than words.
(Edited by Arya AJ)