Kadri Residents Appreciate the ‘Clean Up’ Work by Ramakrishna Math Volunteers
Mangaluru: Sunday, 25 February early morning around 8 am, saw new changes in and around the Kadri Pumpwell vicinity, on Kadri Road near Bharat Beedies Ltd/Natural Ice cream shop, when bunch of Ramakrishna Math volunteers as part of “Swachh Bharath/Swachh Mangaluru campaign undertook a massive clean up drive in this locality- and my God, they simply changed the “Dirty Look” of the vicinity into a “Clean Look”- to the utmost surprise of the local residents- where some of residents might have felt guilty of dumping garbage there earlier. Now they have all learned a lesson not to litter, and they better thank these Good Samaritans aka Good hard working volunteers of Ramakrishna Math for doing a good job and keeping the area tidy.
(Before)
And for that for matter, months prior to the Volunteers of Ramakrishna Math coming and cleaning our area, me and my brother Joe D’souza, along with “Clean Conscious Minded” residents of the area had tried all kind of awareness tactics, even requesting the nearby shop owners and home/apartment owners not to litter- many had obliged us, but a few ignorant folks still kept on dumping garage. Even I had made an article about rich people visiting Natural Ice cream, littering the area with Ice cream cups, spoons, straws etc- but this article created an impact, with the Ice Cream shop placing garbage bins- and even their employees cleaning the area late night after the shop closes. And now the area is tidy-thanks to the management of natural Ice Cream for their support towards Swachh Mangaluru.
Earlier one could notice each day or night customers come in high-end cars like Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, BMW, also top branded Indian cars to buy their favorite natural flavors of Ice Cream at ‘Natural Ice Cream’ parlour located near Kadri Pumpwell, and in spite of these folks being well educated, and many of them being stinking stink- but one thing for sure is that they haven’t learned how to keep the surroundings clean by not littering. While the volunteers of Ramakrishna Mission involve themselves in cleaning the City every Sunday, but on the other hand we had these best cream of the society littering the area with ice cream cups, fast food wrappers/carry bags etc etc- but Team Mangalorean and Ramakrishna Math has now made a difference and has brought awareness among these customers- where now the area is 99.8% clean.
(After)
But in spite of the math volunteers cleaning the area on Sun 25 February, Team Mangalorean noticed someone had dumped little garbage consisting of used tender coconut shells, cig pack/wraps etc- immediately Team Mangalorean called Swami Ekagamyanandaji, convener of Swachh Mangaluru, (Ramakrishna Math) and informed him about the issue, and within 24 hours he, along with Swachh Bharath coordinators Umanath Kotian and Dilaraj made a visit to the area. Me and my brother also joined them, in meeting the shop keepers in the area, and warned them about their act of dumping garbage- for which they said that they would never do it again. Also we met the Manager of Karnataka Bank in that area and requested him to advise the residents living above the bank not to litter, for which e readily agreed to do so.
A proposal was also made to the Bank Manager by the Math representatives, if the Bank would be a sponsor to take care of the cleaned up garden area near the Bank for which the Manager was willing to do so after discussing the matter with his higher officials at the Head Office. Hoping that a good response will come back from the Bank officials. Also the employees of Natural Ice Cream were met, and they also assured to keep the area clean- but one employee said, ” We do our clean up job around the area every night, but some ignorant people still dirty the place, which we can’t help”.
Recalling, on October 2014, the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, decided to go on the offensive. A few months after winning the general elections, Modi launched a massive campaign called Swachh Bharat (‘Clean India’) and proclaimed that citizens of the country should work together to change India in five years’ time, and to clean the streets and squares of its cities completely. The campaign aims to accomplish the vision of ‘Clean India’ by 2 October 2019, when India will celebrate the 150th birthday of the leader of the Indian national liberation movement, Mahatma Gandhi. The method proposed by the Prime Minister is somewhat similar to the strategy of social media marketing: “If every Indian spends just 100 hours a year cleaning the streets, they will celebrate Gandhi’s birthday in a clean country,” had stated Modi.
But while there are many organizations like Ramakrishna Mission trying their best to bring awareness about ‘Swachh Bharath- Swachh Mangaluru’, but sadly we have also the educated and rich who ignorantly try go against the Swachh Bharath Abhiyan, by littering as they like. Only Modi and volunteers of Ramakrishna Mission can’t make a difference in bringing a clean environment- it is the duty of every citizen of India, as well as Mangaluru to take the initiative to maintain cleanliness around them. Once again We the residents of Kadri thank RK ‘Swachh Mangaluru’ Volunteers for keeping up their good work.
Citizens should all support RKM in their campaign for Clean Mangaluru, and volunteer to take part in the “Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan” by calling 9448353162; 9900044073; 9900512727
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