NAGAPATTINAM: For Kuhan Kulandaivelu, it’s a clean sweep, literally. His magic is indeed spellbound, and town panchayats where he worked so far as executive officer have all effortlessly scaled the cleanliness summit. So far, it’s three: Melathiruppoonthuruthi, Vaitheeswarankoil and Thalaignayiru.
“I have always believed in Clean India Mission. To me, in order to make the country clean, first we have to make our workplace tidy,” says the 48-year-old executive officer of Thalaignayiru town panchayat that has been adjudged the cleanest among the local bodies with a population of 15,000 in Tamil Nadu in Swachh Survekshan Survey this year. That’s not all. Thalaignayiru also bagged ninth rank among the local bodies in southern states.
Scripting ‘clean stories’ is no big deal for the native of Mangudi village in Tiruvarur. He had done the impossible way back in 2019, less than a year after the Gaja cyclone ripped through the length and breadth of the State. The then executive officer of Melathiruppoonthuruthi, who was quite new to the place, had his work cut out, as the cyclone’s destructive march left behind piles of debris in the coastal area.
What followed was a tireless effort of the residents, government employees and members of NGOs under the leadership of the man with a ‘clean mission’, and it ultimately bore fruit when the town panchayat bagged the coveted top spot among the urban bodies with a population under 25,000 in the State in cleanliness survey 2019. The civic body that came 36th among the urban bodies in the southern states was also adjudged the ‘best city in solid waste management’. Next year, the urban body not only retained the top slot in the State, but also improved its score by 11 ranks in the list of urban bodies in southern states by finishing 25th.
Kuhan is not limiting himself to cleanliness alone. His love towards the fellow human beings is so intense that he gifted a wheelchair to a differently-abled person from a poor financial background using the honorarium of Rs 6,000 he received for effectively addressing pollution in the area and helped him earn a livelihood by giving him training in making paper bags.
The residents of Melathiruppoonthuruthi still remember the board in front of the rented house of Kuhan that read: ‘Anybody can come and meet me anytime’. It was Kuhan who linked the town panchayat with social media so that the people could raise their grievances with much ease.When ‘Kuhan sir’, as the residents fondly address him, was transferred, it was too much for the villagers to bear. “Many of us were in tears when sir left. Our town panchayat was never the same. We still talk about what he did for us during the cyclone,” recollects G Padmanabhan, a social activist from Melathiruppoonthuruthi.
For the man with a mission, the change of place is no deterrence, for he believes home is where the heart is. And, he continued his work in his ‘new home’.In Vaitheeswarankoil, says K Idhaya Varman, a photographer, he made segregation and composting interesting for the residents. “He encouraged the residents to start vegetable gardens in houses and helped deliver composts at doorstep,” he says.
When the pandemic gripped the country, Kuhan conducted a ‘cook and share online’ contest for men to encourage them stay indoors. He made sanitary workers wear fancy dresses in a bid to promote vaccination. Within months of joining, the man stamped his legacy at his new home as well, as Vaitheeswarankoil emerged as the cleanest town panchayat in the State in 2021. It was also adjudged the second cleanest local body in southern states. To cap it all, the town panchayat won ‘the best self-sustainable city’ award.
Thalaignayiru would have been on cloud nine when it welcomed the new executive officer in 2021. The man has no time to rest as he is now busy building resting rooms for sanitary workers. “I am doing my best. I owe my success to my colleagues, my family and the residents of the town panchayats,” he signs off smiling.