After giving Asalpha slum a new look, Chal Rang de, a non-profit organisation that takes up slum beautification projects, took charge of a new one in Khar-Danda, Mumbai from May 12.
This project includes not only painting the walls and roofs of houses to change the way people look at this city and its slums but also providing them with sustainable roofing that is durable and reduces indoor temperatures by 3-4 degrees. These rooftops are more efficient compared to the temporary sheet roofing the locals employ during the monsoon. With funding for 300 houses, they are painting the roofs that they hope to eventually unfold onto all the 7,000 houses in the area with the help of more than 2,000 volunteers and artists coming from different parts of the country.
Dedeepya Reddy, Co-founder of Chal Rang De said, “After Asalpha, we received requests from all over the country and even beyond. A few residents of Khar introduced us to the area. This is an area that a lot of flights taking off from Mumbai pass and one of the first things you see from above the city. For the first time ever, Mumbai is going to have a slum with sustainable roofing with a blanket of colours that shows the outside world just how beautiful the inside is.”
All spic and span
“After the informal ‘No Spitting’ rule that the residents imposed to maintain the painted walls, promoting cleanliness has become one of our number one priorities. We want to motivate the locals to keep their home as clean as possible by installing colourful bins around the slum, in the hopes that they themselves will realise the importance of it,” Terence Ferreira, Co-founder of Chal Rang De added.
Ms. Vimal More, a resident, said, “We love walking outside and taking a look at the different artwork done on our walls. The young volunteers and artists have really changed the whole look of our houses and have been very polite and understanding throughout the process. ”