Garbage collectors get garlands

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:08.04.2020

On Sunday, when conservancy workers Shanti and Bhavani entered the Muhammed Hussain colony in Kolathur for their daily routine of collecting garbage, they were in for a pleasant surprise. Residents of two streets in the area showered them with flowers and offered them fruits as they went to their homes. Some of them were doing it from the balconies of their homes.

They were showing their gratitude to the conservancy workers who, without fail, reported for duty every day.

“We were grateful to them and wanted to express our happiness. Ideally we would have organised a feast or a felicitation ceremony, but due to the current scenario, we avoided it,” said H Chandrabose, secretary of the registered resident welfare association of the colony. The idea was mooted in a WhatsApp group of the colony. During this activity, the residents ensured they followed social distancing norms and have even created a video.

Incidentally, the conservancy workers in the street come to collect the garbage with tricycles that were donated by the same RWA 18 years ago. The civic body provides conservancy workers with travel facilities and food in these tough times, but it is appreciation from the public that they crave for, said a senior GCC official in zone-6, ( Thiru-vi-ka Nagar ), under which Kolathur falls.

In the same zone, a private construction company has been arranging lunch every day for 1,700 conservancy workers as well as some guest workers who have stayed back.

Zonal executive engineer Senthilnathan said that KLP constructions, a firm on Perambur Barracks Road, has done it for the past 10 days and would continue for the next 10 as well. “They provide either sambhar rice, tamarind rice or puri channa with a sweet,” the official said.

HAILING THE HEROES: Shanti and Bhavani being greeted with flowers at Muhammed Hussain Colony in Kolathur on Tuesday