Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

More takers for `Alagana Kovai'

M. Soundariya Preetha

Residents of Bhurani Colony, PRP Gardens and Rajagopal Layout show interest in it Students, volunteers from RAAC and the local people participated in the programme

JOINING HANDS: Residents of P.R.P. Gardens, Bhurani Colony and Rajagopal Layout at Peelamedu in the city remove garbage in their areas on Sunday. - Photo: M. Periasamy

COIMBATORE: More residential colonies in this textile city are joining the `Alagana Kovai' campaign, an initiative by the Residents' Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) to encourage people to team up and keep their locality clean and beautiful.

The campaign began three months ago in Bharathi Colony and was taken up by the residents of Ramalingam Nagar last week.

It was started in three more colonies in Peelamedu area - Bhurani Colony, PRP Gardens and Rajagopal Layout - on Sunday. And in the coming weeks it will be Sivananda Colony and Gandhimanagar.

"Here is a model that encourages public involvement and creates awareness among residents on keeping their area clean," says K. Lakshmipathy, a resident of Rajagopal Layout.

With 80 houses in their layout, the people of this area cleared the debris, cleaned the roads and the drains on Sunday.

They also cleaned the reserved sites.

Though the local body removes the garbage, the area can be clean only if the weeds are removed on the roadside and people do not dump waste again.

Sundays for cleaning

Residents plan to come together every Sunday and clean the streets, he says.

Since the residents are involved in the cleaning, they will be hesitant to dump waste on the roadsides again, adds G. Soundararajan of the RAAC. Students, volunteers from RAAC and the local people numbering totally about 150 participated in the programme.

The three areas together have 350 houses and about 100 dustbins were distributed with pamphlets to encourage people to segregate waste at source.

A site was also identified for composting the waste.

Plastic bags

Instead of giving huge dustbins, shopkeepers were given plastic bags to dump the waste so that it can be collected every day by the local body.

Mr. Soundararajan points out that every area faces some problem in waste management and the RAAC will guide them in solving these issues too.

It will work with the resident welfare associations of these areas continuously in sustaining the programme, he adds.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Learning centre gets two more new studios
A range of books to choose from
More takers for `Alagana Kovai'
Buy one, make a difference
A quick process for regularisation
Language-learning centre at KCT
Corporation signs pact with Centre
Bharathiar University results today
Around the City
In Coimbatore Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu