Fed up with the abuse of compound walls by people, residents of Abhiramapuram have started painting the walls with social and environmental messages.
As peeing on the walls and littering around them became common, the residents, under the initiative “Stop Abusing Public Places (SAPS)”, have painted the walls on Abhiramapuram 3rd Street Lane with messages of environmental protection.
The initiative is jointly carried out by the Central Abhiramapuram Residents’ Welfare Association (CARWA) and Karam Korpom, a voluntary organisation.
Over 50 volunteers, including students and residents, participated in the initiative to make the walls look attractive. One message read: “This wall is not for dogs to sully”.
R. Kannan, a member of CARWA, said the lane had become a public convenience — an unauthorised space for parking and dumping garbage by residents of a nearby slum.
“It is a pilot project for which funds were collected from various residents. In the coming weeks, compound walls in the remaining five streets, including C.P. Ramasamy Street and Sundararajar Street, will be taken up,” he said.
Uma Maheswari, trustee, Karam Korpom, said she started the NGO with her husband S. Shiv Kumar.
She added that they had completed about 30 projects.