The residents of Greater Kailash-III have complete confidence in the ‘MCD’ taking up sanitation and desilting activities this monsoon. However, this ‘MCD’ is not the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi, but the Madams’ Corporation of Delhi.
Led by Anita Bhattal, Nitika Kochar, Shayla Chopra, and Bhavna, residents of GK-III E-Block have taken up the civic work of their area into their own hands, including picking up trash, desilting drains and clearing parks for children and senior citizens.
The initiative, which started around three weeks ago, is a completely residents-funded enterprise and ensures that the drive happens every day.
Each household pays a monthly charge of ₹1,000 for carrying out the work.
Clean Colony Drive
Besides ensuring that the roads and drains are cleaned, the women’s group fills up potholes, prunes and disinfects trees, and covers up any open manhole.
All the residents are given a weekly report of the work carried out. Under one of the initiatives started by the group, ‘Clean Colony Drive’, around 70% of the cleaning, 80% of malba collection, 45% of regular sweeping and 25% of immediate trash collection have been completed.
Ms. Bhattal said that the initiative has caught the imagination of the residents, with many coming forward to contribute ideas to take it beyond just the daily civic chores.
“People are offering to run libraries for children and seniors in one of the parks, to donate gym equipment, and volunteering to raise awareness against littering. We have met with huge encouragement,” she said.
Ms. Bhattal added that this work is done in addition to the regular sweeping carried out by the municipality. Residents said that they have seen visible improvement in their neighbourhood after the launch of the initiative.
The drive is also being supported by the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) and area councillor Subhash Bhadana.
“Unlike in previous years, this year we did not encounter waterlogging in many of the usual areas. The RWA had been writing to all the higher-ups, but somehow not much was happening. Now you can see an improvement and that is why people want to contribute,” said Mr. Rohit Chopra, a resident of GK-III.
