Using Community Power
The power of the individual to make a difference when combined with other like-minded people is shown by what has just happened in Hyderabad in India, where a group of very determined and fed up people have banded together to form Trash it Members of Better Hyderabad and cleaned up their act!
Sunday mornings are supposed be spent lazing around viewing the idiot box where every now and then, celebs are on air talking about ‘doing their bit’ for the environment. For the last eight Sundays, a group of working professionals have b een truly doing their bit cleaning up Golconda Fort and have collected more than 1500 kgs of utter rubbish.
Sudhir Reddy was tired of seeing people “casually dirtying the fort” and felt he had to do something. “I spoke to my friends who agreed it would be good to clean up the city. We started a group called Better Hyderabad and cleaning up Golconda Fort was the first step. A friend suggested we draw likeminded people through Facebook,” says Sudhir, who is an associate vice president with Lahari Resorts.
Better Hyderabad, today, has more than 800 members and Better Golconda initiative has 25 active members.
Each Sunday, this group assembles at 10 a.m. and starting from the Balahissar Gate, picks up everything from strewn food packets to empty plastic and glass bottles, papers to even diapers. “New people who join us admit it’s a humbling experience,” says entrepreneur Sameer Reddy.
Further action
The cleaning operation lasts till 1 p.m. and nearly a dozen large bags full of trash are collected. Each bag holds 10-12 kgs of trash. Cleaning up is not easy, the group found. “We returned each Sunday to find more garbage,” says Sameer. Clearly, it called for more action. Members of Better Golconda met authorities at the tourism department and Archaeological Survey of India and gave their suggestions on steps that could be implemented.
“There should be demarcated picnic areas and people should not be allowed to take eatables throughout the fort. Designated food court areas will help,” says Sudhir. Efforts are on to rope in NGOs and get corporate sponsorship too.
“Tourists travel to Jaipur, Udaipur and other cities just to see the magnificent forts. We want to make Golconda Fort a monument that will draw tourists to Hyderabad,” says Sameer. The group wants to see the fort included in the Incredible India campaign.
Join Better Hyderabad on Facebook to do your bit. The group provides waste bags, gloves and face masks for participants. “If the idea of picking up garbage freaks you out, trust me, it’s fun and there is satisfaction in doing something good,” says Sameer.
Original article by: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo
See http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/10/28/stories/2009102850450100.htm