Around 80 residents from gated communities — pertaining to buildings by Ramaniyam and Ceebros — and those of a few other apartment complexes and individual houses on Model School Road in Sholinganallur teamed up for a clean-up, with the support of Chennai Trekking Club.
According to Maya Avanith, a resident, “We initiated this drive as repeated complaints to the Greater Chennai Corporation about the poor condition of the road did not yield desired results.”
The road is ridden with potholes and residents want it re-laid. Another complaint by residents have to do with garbage, which is allowed to accumulate for days.
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“We obviously cannot lay the roads by ourselves. But we can certainly keep them clean and tidy. So, we started this initiative,” says Guru Murugesh, another resident and coordinator of the drive.
Ashwin Sekar, another resident, says, “We believe keeping our neighbourhood clean is as much outr responsibility as it is the Corporation’s — especially because it is we who generate a major portion of the waste.”
The cleanliness drive is part of larger programme that is aimed at creating an environment-friendly neighbourhood.
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Members of the colonies are also planning to raise a kitchen garden on their premises and they are also working on a pilot project involving installation of solar panels.
Ceebros already has some environment-friendly practices in place. They include terrace gardening and installation of solar panels.
Now a few other communities — Central Park, Dream Inn and Jothi Apartments and a few individual houses — have also come forward to emulate its model.
“If we could bring about a change, we would like to work with the other gated communities in and around Sholinganallur,” adds Guru.