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Students clean K R Market

Tuesday, 24 September 2013 09:43 administrator
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The New Indian Express             24.09.2013

Students clean K R Market

City Market being cleaned by students from Sri Krishna College in Bangalore on Monday | Express Photo
City Market being cleaned by students from Sri Krishna College in Bangalore on Monday | Express Photo

”I have come to K R Market many times as a customer. I have thrown waste like fruit peels in the middle of the market. But today, I came here to clean the market. It makes a big difference and gives a great feeling,” Appaji, a fifth semester BCA student from Sri Krishna International Education Society (SKIES) said. Appaji is one among thousands of students from SKIES along with their lecturers, who helped the BBMP in cleaning K R Market on Monday.

Normally at 11 am on Mondays, the market always has a dirty look. But this time, it was much cleaner.

Vikram, a second year PUC student, said it was an unforgettable experience. “We did all types of cleaning in the market, from sweeping to filling waste in garbage trucks,” he said. 

Sindhu, a first year BCom student said that though they missed some of their regular theory classes on Monday morning, she felt that cleaning the market was a worthwhile endeavour. “We learnt practical lessons’,” she added. 

Tejaswini, a first year BBM student, said that it felt good as they got an opportunity to clean their city. “We created awareness among the public too,” she added.

While some vendors were happy about the cleaning, some were skeptical. Lakshmamma, a vegetable vendor, said if the market is kept clean, more number of people will come. “Our business will be good. Nobody cared much for us. But these students asked me about my health. It is a nice feeling. I will try to keep the surroundings clean,” she said.

Satish, another vendor who sells puja items, said, “We should appreciate students for cleaning the market. But, for how many days will BBMP continue this initiative? It is a market and not a mall. When lakhs of people come to visit this place everyday, just by cleaning it for one day will not make much of a difference.”

M Rukmangada Naidu, Chairman, SKIES said it was a different experience for their students.

“Mayor B S Sathyanarayana had approached us, and we were glad to be part of this initiative. In the future, we are ready to join hands with the BBMP in any such social endeavour,” he added. Saraswathi Kambale, Principal of the degree college, said that around 200 lecturers from PU and degree colleges participated.

“Students enjoyed doing the work and also contributed to keep the city clean,” she said. BBMP has started its initiative to clean K R Market every Monday from the last week. Students from APS college had helped the BBMP to clean the market last week.

Mayor B S Sathyanarayana wants to take this drive to clean the market for at least eight weeks and to later clean other markets.

 

Now, visit the KMC for a rare glimpse into Kolkata’s history

Monday, 23 September 2013 11:39 administrator
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Hindustan Times           23.09.2013

Now, visit the KMC for a rare glimpse into Kolkata’s history

From rare photographs of dignitaries like Ho Chi Minh to glimpses of Calcutta during the British era, tourists to the city and indeed Kolkatans themselves now have the opportunity to learn more about Kolkata’s history and its rich heritage.

For, Mamata Banerjee’s men at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) are planning a ‘permanent photo exhibition centre’ at the civic headquarters.

The singha duar (lion’s gate) of the civic headquarters, opposite Chaplin Square, leads to a lobby where the ‘rarest of rare’ photographs of old Calcutta dating back to the Raj era would be displayed.

“Millions of people visit the city everyday and we want to draw that crowd to our permanent photo exhibition centre displaying our rich heritage captured in lenses,” Arun Roy, the deputy manager (information and public relations) and editor of KMC’s official magazine, Puroshree, told HT.

Forty display boards would be put up in total.

Roy added that the first display board would have photographs of the civic headquarter buildings in their original form, the building sanction plan and a brief history.

The second would showcase the first map of Calcutta in 1792 by Uff John while the third would display rare photographs of ‘Old Calcutta’.

The fourth display board would comprise early photographs and brief history of different civic departments such as water supply, sewerage and drainage, roads, health and solid waste management.

For example, a photograph of the laying of the first water pipeline from Palta to Tallah would be displayed.

Two display boards would be dedicated to the photographs of all the mayors of Kolkata till date starting from Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, dating back to 1924.

One would showcase former chief ministers of Bengal at the civic functions and civic headquarters, which include Bidhan Chandra Roy, Prafulla Sen, Jyoti Basu, Ajoy Mukherjee, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mamata Banerjee and so on. There would be pictures of roads of old Calcutta while another board would showcase iconic places in the city.

Display boards would be dedicated to the rare photographs of important dignitaries visiting the civic headquarters such as Ho Chi Minh, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Radhakrishnan, Uttam Kumar, Satyajit Roy, Uday Shankar and Ravi Shankar.

Another will focus on eminent personalities who had worked as civic employees such as Bipin Chandra Pal, Nirod C. Choudhury, Sandipan Chattopadhyay, Promode Dasgupta, Jatindra Mohan Bagchi, Radha Raman Mitra, Amol Home, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

 

5,000 people join hands to clean the mess on beaches

Monday, 23 September 2013 05:10 administrator
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The Hindu               23.09.2013 

5,000 people join hands to clean the mess on beaches

Schoolchildren cleaning the Panambur Beach as part of the International Coastal Clean-up Day, organised by the Indian Coast Guard, in Mangalore on Sunday.— PHOTO: H.S. MANJUNATH
schoolchildren cleaning the Panambur Beach as part of the International Coastal Clean-up Day, organised by the Indian Coast Guard, in Mangalore on Sunday.— PHOTO: H.S. MANJUNATH

Hundreds of schoolchildren, concerned citizens and NCC cadets put their backs into labour on a surprisingly warm Sunday to sweep away the refuse left behind by tourists, trash thrown by locals and pieces of flotsam that have sullied the sands of the coast.

‘International Coastal Clean-up Day’, marked on the third weekend of September every year, was observed in the State’s coastline by the Indian Coast Guard.

This year, a total of nine beaches or 25 km along the coast were tackled – starting from Manjeshwar in Kasaragod district; Tannirbavi, Panambur and Surathkal in Dakshina Kannada; Malpe in Udupi; and Murudeshwar, Bhatkal, Kumta and Karwar in Uttara Kannada.

More than 5,000 people were involved in the beach clean-up exercise, said Rajender Singh Sapal, Commandant (JG), Coast Guard, Karnataka.

Among the most enthusiastic were schoolchildren. Maruti and Ramesh, two Class 8 students from Dakshina Kannada district Higher Primary School, Baikampady, were seen scurrying around Panambur beach, carrying plastic bags, liquor bottles and other refuse in their gloved hands.

When asked what had brought them to join the drive on a Sunday when most of people of their age were at home playing, Maruti replied earnestly: “If we collect enough garbage, they will give us a topi (cap).”

Whatever the reason for joining the campaign, by noon, numerous piles of bulky black garbage bags stood testimony to the apathy that led to the dirtying of the beaches in the first place. (he bags were picked by trucks from the Mangalore City Corporation.

Creating awareness

The drive goes beyond just an annual cleaning of the beach, believed R.M. Sharma, Director and Inspector General (DIG), Coast Guard, Karnataka.

“This is to create awareness of the tonnes of waste that is being dumped in the oceans, which washes it ashore; as well as to reduce the garbage generation on land.”

The coast guard fleet in the state will be augmented by the end of this year or early next year with the introduction of two hovercrafts based in Tannirbavi.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the beach clean-up exercise at Panambur, R.M. Sharma, Director and Inspector General (DIG), Coast Guard, Karnataka, said 18 hovercrafts have been procured for use along the nation’s coast from a company in England.

However, the uncertainty in the date of launch of operations is caused by the issue of land procurement. The Coast Guard had requested handing over of 15 acres at Tannirbavi for parking and maintenance of the hovercrafts. “It is only when the district administration hands over the land that we can start the operations,” he said.

 
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