Rangoli designs send right message on dumping waste

Two years ago, a group of sanitation staffers from the PMC’s Yerawada ward office began drawing rangolis at places where people threw garbage. It worked.


When the dumping spots began to reduce, civic officials began to enourage other staff members to draw rangoli in other parts of the city.


Sanitation staffers from Wanowrie-Ramtekdi, Kondhwa-Yevlewadi, Dhole-Patil Road and Ghole Road ward offices have now adopted the Yerawada pattern of drawing beautiful rangolis with attractive slogans to get rid of indiscriminate garbage dumping.

Assistant commissioner Sanjay Gawade, in-charge of Wanowrie and Ramtekdi ward office, said the sanitation staff struck upon the idea. “The burden of collecting garbage from several spots has reduced considerably,” he added.

PMC supervisor Surekha Dhavare said there are 19 chronic garbage spots at Saibabanagar, Meethanagar and Bhagyodayanagar in Kondhwa.

“We used to clean the place twice or thrice a day but residents would dump garbage everywhere. We sprayed bleaching powder after cleaning them but waste dumping was rampant. It was a health hazard and made the lives of other residents miserable. Non-cooperation from the people at times made our task of collecting garbage tedious,” she said.

They began drawing rangolis with messages appealing to people to keep their neighbourhoods clean.

“The rangoli worked magic and people stopped dumping garbage. Our superiors are happy as they get positive feedback from the people. The initiative, launched a month ago, has helped us curb five chronic spots and we can now think of working in a healthy atmosphere,” Dhavare added.

However, the staff spend money from their pockets to buy rangoli powder. “We face problems related to garbage collection and health issues. The civic body does not spend any money on purchasing rangoli. Our initiative will continue. We will work hard at bringing down the number of chronic spots at other places,” Dhavare said.

As an added measure, they felicitate the team members. It boosts their morale and encourages them to do good work.

Joint commissioner Dnyaneshwar Molak said, “We have started popularising the concept of drawing colourful rangolis among the sanitation staffers at four ward offices. Its results are amazing and beyond expectations. More importantly, it deters people from dumping garbage. Rangolis spread social messages like segregation of wet and dry garbage, anti-dumping and implementing the plastic ban. Our staffers will be given best worker certificates.”

Molak said top civic officials and 741 officers of various rank and file, including 15 ward offices have been inspecting all the wards between 6.30am and 8.30am daily since a month to maintain cleanliness, attendance and quality.

“We have developed an app with 13 parameters for maintaining cleanliness at public toilets, gardens and slums among other places. We take action within 24 hours after a receiving complaint,” Molak said.

Senior sanitary inspector Mangaldas Mane from Kondhwa-Yevlewadi ward office said, “The rangoli concept has spread a positive social message. If a place is clean and well-maintained then people are forced to change their mentality. Many have discontinued dumping garbage in the open. This has provided a huge relief to sanitation staffers. We have also placed flower pots at chronic spots in Meethanagar. This initiative is doing wonders.”

Deputy commissioner Madhav Deshpande said the rangoli initiative will go to other ward offices as it has started giving excellent results.

“If the garbage is handed directly to the system like the pick-up points, then waste will not be strewn on the roads. We encourage our creative employees to continue doing good work,” he said