For a long time, residents of 24th Street in Bengaluru’s HSR Layout noticed that several amenities in the area, like the public bathroom, remained unused. The stench of urine lingered in the air and the area lacked streetlights, too. Instead of complaining or silently putting up with the menace, the residents motivated themselves to tackle it. They swung into action and started a people’s movement called the Community Task Force (CTF), to repair and beautify the area. The members gathered every morning since December 6, inspected the areas that needed attention and started beautifying the neighbourhood. With benches, public gym and plants, they managed to give the area a new lease of life within three weeks.
The citizens’ efforts have been met with a positive response from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) and other local authoritative bodies. Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Randeep Dev visited the locality and inaugurated the public gym in the area on Friday. At the event, he assured the citizens to install bio-toilet facilities to address the problem of public urination.
Krishna Kumar, a member of the initiative, said, “We cleaned the stretch of footpath adjacent to the Karnataka Electricity Board (KEB) substation on 24th Main, Second Sector. We painted the walls of the substation and now people from all over the city are joining hands to create beautiful murals on the wall.”
The newly inaugurated public gym at HSR Layout and the painted KEB wall
Some residents even donated equipment for the public gym, furnished the street with benches and installed leaf composters. They also planted saplings around the area.
“To attract more people from the neighbourhood, we started a small movement called the ‘Walk in the Ward’, where we gather and walk around to examine which areas need immediate attention,” said 70-year-old Ramakant, another member of Community Task Force.
While the Bescom installed streetlights in the area, the BBMP has appointed pourakarmikas to maintain the cleanliness in the area.
“Some more work needs to be undertaken, including retiling the footpath. The authorities have assured that they will undertake the work soon,” said Kumar. He added that they are planning to further this movement by emulating this model in the neighbouring streets in HSR Layout.