Over two years ago, when anaesthetist R. Chandrasekaran decided to revive the defunct residents’ association of R.A. Puram, he was convinced in his bones that it would make a difference in the neighbourhood.
Civic amenities were deteriorating and rapid commercialisation was eating into the charm of this once-calm locality.
Believing that a change was possible if residents were united and the gap between residents and authorities were bridged, Chandrasekaran went ahead and revived the Raja Anamalaipuram Residents’ Association. Thirty residents joined the association. Considering that the posh neighbourhood had a population of 5,000, this number was hardly impressive.
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In two years, RAPRA has proved nay-sayers wrong, growing into a 200-member group and introducing measures that have evoked interest and wonder among other residents’ associations. Its systematic functioning, which includes an in-house magazine that enables residents to connect with one another and a regular system of mailing, has received kudos from various quarters.
One of RAPRA’s first initiatives was trashing the trash bin kept at every street corner by going in for door-to-door collection of waste. Every road – the locality has seven main roads and four cross roads – has five representatives who monitor disposal of waste and attend to civic issues plaguing residents.
“For the first three to four months the response was good. Representatives were alert and residents cooperated and disposed of waste at fixed hours,” says K.T. Anantharama Sarma, a resident of RA Puram since 1956.
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The initiative has been almost entirely successful in certain sections of the locality: Fifth Main Road earlier had four garbage bins, and only one now. At Seventh Main Road, door-to-door collection of waste happens on a regular basis.
However, the effort to make the neighbourhood a model of cleanliness has led to frustrations too. Stretches on First Main Road and Canal Road, behind the Mandaveli MRTS station, are an eyesore with encroachments by paper mart shops and mechanics. Abandoned vehicles also pose a threat to residents.
“I keep on making appeals to people till results are seen,” says Chandrasekaran, the Association’s patron. The Association’s other success stories include getting three transformers installed to address the problem of low-voltage and frequent power cuts.
S. Hariharan was instrumental in liaising with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation to make bus routes 5C and 21G pass through R.A. Puram. Lakshmi Venkatesh, joint secretary, took the lead in increasing the green cover in the locality. Every resident is doing his bit. This month end, resident and architect Sangeetha Saravanan will conduct a workshop of garden group members, where residents will be taught to compost wet waste.
While they have many victories to be proud of, RAPRA residents still have a host of battles to fight. Work on re-laying storm water drain has been a ‘failure’, they say. In many of the roads, the drains are not closed properly leading to breeding of mosquitoes.
“In a few roads, the storm water drain and sewerage lines are inter-linked,” says Chandrasekaran.
He believes RAPRA could be more successful if its membership swelled.
Members want the entire neighbourhood to “work together as a family”.
(Downtown Cares is a column that invites resident welfare associations to talk about their work in the neighbourhoods.These associations may write to us at downtownfeedback@thehindu.co.in or call us at 28576631, seeking a meeting.)