Thirty-three-year-old N Sunil leaves home at 6 am every morning with a broom in his hand. October is a busy month as the mess of several festivals is to be cleared up. He isn’t a pourakarmika.
“Mysuru didn’t get the clean city tag for two consecutive years just out of the blue. The city’s corporators have definitely played an active role in creating awareness among people,” says Sunil, one of Mysuru City Corporation’s councillors. He has represented ward number four for three years now, personally inspects and cleans streets on his own in the ward every day.
At 33, Sunil, who won against a BJP candidate by 2 votes during the elections in 2013, is the youngest male corporator in the city.
"I am a young corporator with an interest in social work, which explains my enthusiasm. And being a corporator is not about just picking calls of complaints and pushing the government for a grant. I personally felt that active work on the ground would prove my worth. By saying so I don't want to boast that I am the only active corporator in the city," he said.
"However, I am proud that I have personally contributed to Mysuru's cleanest city tag," he adds.
Prakash, a resident of Ramanuja road told The News Minute that during Dasara, which sees an influx of people into the city, Suneel was literally on the streets making sure there was no problem.
“Ours is a very old area. The layout of the area was designed while Mysuru was still a princely state. It is right in the center of the city and every tourist season we get many people across the country and from abroad taking a walking in the streets. During Dasara, Sunil, our corporator made sure there were no civic problems,” he said.
Suneel says it is not just up to pourakarmikas to clean the city’s streets. "Just because I want Mysuru to get the cleanest city tag for the third year, I can't sit on my armchair and push these workers to work harder. Instead, for them it feels like less of a burden, when they see me working with them. Initially residents used to object me cleaning their streets but now they join me too," Sunil says.
Despite the tag of being the cleanest city, Sunil says there are many hurdles. About half of all households still litter their surroundings.
"Sometimes there is garbage in the corner of the road. While one reason could be that the garbage truck hadn't come as it was damaged. But other times, there are people who litter, especially during the festival time," he says.
Even though he admits that the layout was planned well to begin with, time has brought change. "The Maharajas had planned the layout in such a way that every house here got enough air. It is very spacious. They even made parks which are still being maintained. However, things don't stay the same. Every house has at least two vehicles and over time these roads were getting too congested. Road widening was one of the first projects I took up," he said.
He said obtaining funds on time was a never-ending challenge. "I am one of the corporators who is constantly applying for grants for various projects. Recently, the CM granted Rs 3.5 crore for road development. The money was given to only a few well-functioning wards," he said.