Chitlapakkam residents set a colourful example
Pradeep Kumar| Dec 3, 2017, 15:56 IST
Pradeep Kumar| Dec 3, 2017, 15:56 IST
In four hours, residents re-painted the wall, which had been defaced by posters earlier, with messages advocat... Read More
CHENNAI: While there have been examples in the past of residential communities uniting for a civic cause, residents ofChitlapakkam on the outskirts of Chennai have pushed the bar higher for others to emulate.
After tasting success in getting the state government to remove encroachments built on the Chitlapakkam lake recently, a group of 30-40 residents on Sunday joined hands to paint a railway border wall near the Tambaram Sanatorium station's pedestrian subway.
In four hours, residents re-painted the wall, which had been defaced by posters earlier, with messages advocating cleanliness and environment conservation. "The paint will sustain for at least three to four months. We have asked auto drivers from the nearby stand to discourage people from sticking posters," said Udaya Kumar, a Chitlapakkam resident.
Kumar is a member of Chitlapakkam Rising, a volunteer collective of local residents which organised the wall painting event. Chitlapakkam Rising shot to prominence a few years ago when the group's volunteers repainted walls of grade separators near Pallavaram.
The group's members have been instrumental in the fight against lake encroachments in Chitlapakkam, a process which led to its volunteers being branded activists, said Kumar. "This (wall painting) was us getting back to our basics. We will be repainting the dining room area of a government home for the mentally ill near (Tambaram) Sanatorium and a middle school in Chitlapakkam," Kumar added.
But the job is not without its problems. "Whenever we paint, cops approach us and ask what we are doing. It is interesting that they never ask the same question to the ones sticking posters on the walls," said Sunil Jayaram, a Chitlapakkam resident.
The guts to stand up to authority and fight for things they want is not new to Chitlapakkam. One of the area's early settlers, S Chandrasekaran, who moved into the locality in the 1980s, told TOI that the previous generation HAD fought hard to get buses, power connection and streetlights to the locality. "In those days, we used to pester the government officials with post cards and inland letters," he said.
"In my experience, I have never known a local body that volunteered to provide residents with civic amenities," Chandrasekaran said, adding that persistence was key.
"United, a civic community can achieve a lot," he said.
CHENNAI: While there have been examples in the past of residential communities uniting for a civic cause, residents ofChitlapakkam on the outskirts of Chennai have pushed the bar higher for others to emulate.
After tasting success in getting the state government to remove encroachments built on the Chitlapakkam lake recently, a group of 30-40 residents on Sunday joined hands to paint a railway border wall near the Tambaram Sanatorium station's pedestrian subway.
In four hours, residents re-painted the wall, which had been defaced by posters earlier, with messages advocating cleanliness and environment conservation. "The paint will sustain for at least three to four months. We have asked auto drivers from the nearby stand to discourage people from sticking posters," said Udaya Kumar, a Chitlapakkam resident.
Kumar is a member of Chitlapakkam Rising, a volunteer collective of local residents which organised the wall painting event. Chitlapakkam Rising shot to prominence a few years ago when the group's volunteers repainted walls of grade separators near Pallavaram.
The group's members have been instrumental in the fight against lake encroachments in Chitlapakkam, a process which led to its volunteers being branded activists, said Kumar. "This (wall painting) was us getting back to our basics. We will be repainting the dining room area of a government home for the mentally ill near (Tambaram) Sanatorium and a middle school in Chitlapakkam," Kumar added.
But the job is not without its problems. "Whenever we paint, cops approach us and ask what we are doing. It is interesting that they never ask the same question to the ones sticking posters on the walls," said Sunil Jayaram, a Chitlapakkam resident.
The guts to stand up to authority and fight for things they want is not new to Chitlapakkam. One of the area's early settlers, S Chandrasekaran, who moved into the locality in the 1980s, told TOI that the previous generation HAD fought hard to get buses, power connection and streetlights to the locality. "In those days, we used to pester the government officials with post cards and inland letters," he said.
"In my experience, I have never known a local body that volunteered to provide residents with civic amenities," Chandrasekaran said, adding that persistence was key.
"United, a civic community can achieve a lot," he said.
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