Citizens take social responsibility in their hands through DECORA
When it comes to big cities like Bengaluru, garbage and sanitation is one of the toughest challenges. Some of the best and most liveable cities in the world like Stockholm and Singapore are the cleanest and the most efficient when it comes to garbage disposal. In Bengaluru, garbage is a huge issue and inefficiency and poor bandwidth of city administrative organisations like BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) leads to piled up garbage leading to poor hygiene and diseases.
DECORA is a Resident Welfare Association actively engaged in community activities in the Defence Colony Indiranagar, Bengaluru. Wet waste is supposed to be collected once a day, dry waste twice a week and all premises swept and cleaned by BBMP workers. But practically, this doesn’t happen. So residents of Defence Colony formed the Defence Colony Residents Association (DECORA) to tackle problems faced by them like overflowing sewage, stagnating storm water, and garbage dumps expanding into a mini landfill.
Haphazard parking has made the low-lying open spaces along the DC Link Road an ‘environmental hotspot’, endangering the health and safety of thousands (particularly children) visiting the neighbourhood parks.
Myriam Shankar, one of the office bearers of DECORA says, “We have a task force of volunteers who work to support the corporation staff in order to improve the efficiency and timeliness of the garbage disposal process.” From a superior waste management system, to a task force to monitor waste collection, to preparing reports to identify weak spots and make long lasting changes to the system, DECORA hopes to bring a revolution to the city neighbourhoods.
DECORA’s work is commendable due to the below features
- innovative design focusses on an efficient garbage transfer station (incorporating aesthetic eco-friendly materials and better workspaces for sanitary staff);
- spreading awareness on segregation and composting;
- channelling, filtering and storing rainwater;
- reclaiming adjacent open areas for relaxation or exercise;
- improving mobility through footpaths and streamlined parking;
- And enhancing safety through LED lighting.
DECORA is also a part of the Nandi Hillathon initiative, an annual city fund raising event to enable city communities to raise funds to protect, preserve and promote Bengaluru’s treasures and transform the city into a beautiful and more liveable one.
SocialStory has launched a campaign to help us come together and save the city from dying. Bring out those mobile phones and laptops and share with us the problems you see and start participating with those who are working for change. Write to us at [email protected] with what you think you can do more to save the city, and we will share it with our audience.
