Kodambakkam streets to get a splash of colour

The residents living in United India Colony (3rd Main Road) and surrounding streets of Pasumarthy Street and Nagarjuna Nagar (1st Street) will have a colourful vista, as their compound walls will turn into a work of art – thanks to an initiative by Awareness India Movement (AIM), a social service youth organisation. 

“The idea behind this initiative is to foster big change, through a series of focused activities. This is in line with our Kodambakkam 2020 mission, which we have taken up along with the Chennai Corporation, to change our society to the one envisioned by former president APJ Abdul Kalam in his Vision 2020,” said Vetrivel K, founder of AIM. Vetrivel said that the idea of the project is to make United India Colony, 3rd Main Road as a “model street”. 

“This will involve cleaning our streets with efficient solid waste management, planting saplings on both sides of the road, art on the compound walls, CCTV cameras installation (with the help of Police), setting up roof garden and improving the conditions of the street,” said the resident. The art project on the walls, which will be carried out the coming weekend (May 26 and 27) will include Gond and Warli paintings. 

“Many of the streets turn into spots for open defecation. To deter this, we are painting the compound walls with art. This will include awareness messages as well as a splash of Tamil culture, narrated through sketches of the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur and story of VeerapandiyaKattabomman. There will also be graffiti, doodles and messages on environmental and social themes. The residents have permitted us to beautify their compound walls. Volunteers can join us in this endeavour,” he added.

In addition to this, the team has been working with the residents of the apartment complexes on this street to implement an effective solid waste management plan. “We have worked with residents to ensure that the waste from their household doesn’t reach the street bins, which will overflow and create a civic issue. 

Many of the apartment complexes have installed two bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and segregation is underway. Soon, we will remove the street-side bins,” said Vetrivel.