Volunteers to clean up city in a day

Residents of Mysore will have to gear up for a massive clean-up action to clean the entire city on February 24 organised by ‘Lets do it! Mysore’ team.

The team which consists of a bunch of like-minded people, who came up with the idea of cleaning Mysore city in a day along with involvement of organisations and individuals, were inspired by ‘lets do it! movement’ of Estonia, a little country of Northern Europe, born in 2008. Nearly 50,000 people had come together to get rid of 10,000 tonnes of garbage dumped at roadsides, forests and towns, cleaning the entire country in just five hours.

The movement of Mysore along with its purpose of cleaning the city in a day aims to even create awareness among the mass about the waste management and cleanliness.

The team is organising many programmes as a part of their main event to encourage all classes and categories of the society to get involved in the cleaning act.
The mock cleaning programme was conducted recently at the high tension park (from Sharadadevi Nagar bus stop to Bogadi) which was no more a park as it had become a dumping yard for residents nearby.

The mock event also introduced to the volunteers the ground reality of the cleaning act which included lessons to them about use of equipment, diving works among them and other procedures. As much as 21 autos of waste was collected in the park and sent to zero waste management centre, and 90 per cent of it was plastic.

Volunteers opine that though Mysore City Corporation (MCC) is concentrating on keeping the city clean by introducing collection of waste from homes and segregating them into dry and wet, few places of dumping slips from the list of the civic body which poses threat to people. The team mainly concentrates on such places and even public places like bus stands and stops.

The team claims support extended from deputy commissioner Rame Gowda as well as corporators of all wards, Mysore Hoteliers’ Association, bank employees, schools and colleges will join hands to clear the garbage under their own banner. Many corporate companies have come forward for the cause sponsoring gloves, masks, t-shirts and other necessary equipment.

B S Prashanth, president of Mysore Travel Agents Association and volunteer of the movement told Deccan Herald that nearly 400 tonnes of waste is collected in Mysore per day and on the day of the event the team aims to clear 4,000 tonnes of it.

 He expresses happiness that youth in large numbers are getting involved in the programmes enthusiastically which spreads the awareness of waste management.
The city with tag of ‘clean city’ should not be removed with the present situation of garbage problem, he adds.