Volunteers give Saidapet slum a facelift

The Serene Chennai, a volunteer group, aided by Greater Chennai Corporation and Agam Sei, have adopted the slum area near Anna Nagar Housing Board in Saidapet, which has close to 300 families living in the vicinity. 

Apart from regularly cleaning up the garbage, the team plans to set up a children’s play area with a badminton court for the youngsters, which will be managed by the residents. 

Gowri Shankar R, Founder, The Serene Chennai, said that they had always been cleaning up corporation schools around the city. 

“After the floods, a huge amount of garbage had gathered here. And, this large area was prone to open defecation by the slum households, which didn’t have access to the toilets. The residents and slum dwellers asked us to help them clean up the area and they assured that they will maintain it. Over the last two weekends, we have removed more than 70 bags of garbage. 

We are also planning to set up a children’s activity area, plant saplings and include a badminton court for the young boys in the area,” said this corporate employee, adding that the team plays with the children in a bid to bond with them and work as a team. 

M. Mohammed Adhil, a resident of the area, said they are excited about the proposed badminton court. “The children are eager to see the court. The elders and most of the women have taken the responsibility to ensure that garbage is not dumped during the weekdays. 

The women in the area have also asked for toilets to deal with the problem of open defecation,” he said. Shankar added that he got a positive response from the Greater Chennai Corporation, who immediately aided the team in clearing up the garbage. 

“The local conservancy supervisor was very helpful and immediately helped us. We have adopted this area and hope to make it a model, which can be replicated across the city,” he pointed out.  A Corporation official said, “After the floods, a lot of homes were destroyed and there was a huge amount of garbage left.

So the group, The Serene Chennai pitched in to clear the trash. Each time we have cleaned up, we have carted around five tricycles full of garbage! Now, that the garbage is removed to a certain extent, the residents are happy and said they will help maintain it in the future as well.”