The ‘change room’ at the office of Ward 74 on Baraka Road in Secretariat Colony, Kellys, now doubles as discussion room. Here, civic officials debate the pros and cons of various civic initiatives. Talks on solid waste management dominate the discussions.
Phrases such as “Keep your backyard clean” and “Say goodbye to mosquitoes” that are written on blue-coloured-garbage sheds along Medavakkam Tank Road in Kellys, were chosen here by these officials.
There are more original lines – such as “Clean streets make for a healthy neighbourhood – that have come out of this ‘word factory’.
Bala Muthuraman, assistant engineer, is credited with conceptualising this word factory. Executive engineer D. Rajasekhar and assistant executive engineer C. Palaniswamy are said to have encouraged him.
Medavakkam Tank Road, which has risen on what was a waterbody centuries ago, is the first stretch in the city to have messages written on its garbage sheds. The Road falls within the limits of 74 Ward in Zone 6 (Ayanavaram). The stretch between Kellys signal and Ayanavaram junction has four garbage sheds. Each shed has four independent garbage bins to collect wastes from the neighbourhood. Every day, on an average, around four tons of kitchen waste, is generated from the 5,000 households. Artists are hired to paint these phrases.
“The idea is good. Earlier, such messages were found only on the compound walls of government buildings,” said S. Vasanthi, a resident of Kellys. The civic team plans to extend the initiative to all the 86 street lanes. They also plan to have similar phrases in garbage bins with cartoons depicting various methods of waste segregation.
“We have the phrases ready at least a week in advance. This may appear to be a small initiative but it has great potential for change,” said Palaniswamy, assistant executive engineer.
