Police stations scattered around a geographical area with K.K. Nagar as its nucleus, have one special visitor every alternate day. He is said to time his visit early in the morning much before the police personnel arrive for their day’s work. Apart from the few personnel on night duty, he has the station all to himself.
He is not a social activist frequenting police stations to register public grievances. Nor is he a health staff from the Greater Chennai Corporation. You can fling a clump of other possibilities that you might have thought of, out the window.
So, who exactly is this mysterious visitor?
It’s a long-time resident of K.K. Nagar, and he has taken it upon himself to disinfect police stations in Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar, K.K. Nagar, Virugambakkam and MGR Nagar on a regular basis, for free. He also brings multi-storey apartment complexes in the region within the ambit of this social work.
N. Gunasekaran, forty-six-years-old, is carrying out this free disinfection work since the lockdown was first clamped in March.
“Every other day, before we set foot in the station, he would have had it disinfected,” says N. Sivakumar, Inspector (Law & Order), K.K. Nagar police station.
Gunasekaran, who is in the real estate business for nearly two decades, is a resident of K.K. Nagar since his school days. When his family moved to Chennai from Sivaganga district, they settled down in K.K. Nagar.
Gunasekaran points out that the neighbourhood is inseparably woven together with his life, having given him his friends and business associates.
Every day, Gunasekaran's free disinfection service starts at 6.30 a.m at the police stations, which he does with a helper.
The disinfection work covers the entire building of a police station, the interior and exterior sections and the police vehicles.
The disinfection work is carried out from a minivan that is mounted with a disinfectant equipment with a capacity of 1,000 litres.
Fresh water is provided by the local Chennai Metrowater pumping station as the initiative is meant to help the police and the public.
He buys the disinfectant and diesel for the work entirely at his cost. Five litres of disinfectant is used with 1,000 litres of water.
Disinfectant trips are made thrice a day to apartment complexes and public places like make-shift markets.
“Not just free disinfection work. Gunasekaran has been providing free herbal health drink to 80 police personnel including 10 women constables at the station every day since March,” says Sivakumar.
K.K. Nagar is divided into 15 sectors with each sector having eight streets and a playground.
“At least four times, Gunasekaran has disinfected all the eight streets in our Seventh Sector in the neighbourhood since March. We can reach him anytime regarding any public grievances. He is always available for residents,” says K. Manohar, secretary, Seventh Sector Residents Welfare Association in K.K. Nagar.
Apart from disinfectant work, Gunasekaran also provides free food including boiled eggs to children and residents hailing from low-income groups every day. Besides, distribution of free herbal health drink is also done on a regular basis in the locality since the lockdown.
Gunasekaran can be contacted at 9941791087.
