Pourakarmikas take artistic route to prevent littering

Mysuru: To bring about civic awareness, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has taken to drawing rangoli patterns on the roads to prevent citizens from littering the place. The MCC has collected a fine of Rs 12 lakh from erring public, establishments and traders for throwing garbage in public places.
Mysuru City Corporation health officer Dr DG Nagaraj said recently they levied a fine of Rs 10k on an establishment for dumping waste in a public place. Similarly, since July 2022, the MCC has collected fines for throwing garbage in public places. Even individuals have been fined Rs 1,000 after they were caught red-handed by the civic authorities.
Despite awareness, the public continues to throw biodegradable waste at few points. “Therefore we have taken a tough stand against erring the public and also educating them through novel ways like drawing rangoli at vulnerable points,” said Nagaraj.
Women pourakarmikas who know how to draw rangoli have been encouraged to use their skills at vulnerable spots where the public have been dumping garbage ignoring repeated appeals by the civic body to keep the neighbourhood neat and clean.
A drive has been launched from October 2, as part of Gandhi Jayanti, in all the 65 wards of the MCC to educate the public. Pourakarmikas have been appealing to the public to maintain cleanliness by drawing rangoli.
Maara, a pourakarmika leader, said with this initiative women workers are putting their best effort to keep the city clean and we want the public to support the cause. “Apart from drawing rangolis of different designs, messages like ‘we too are humans’, ‘don’t dump waste here’, ‘keep the city clean’ and ‘a fine of Rs 1000 will be levied on wrongdoing by the public’ are being drawn by us”, Maara explained .
SBM Manju, a corporator at ward 6, said they have intensified awareness drives using this novel way to prevent the public from recklessly dumping garbage in public places. “At two places - Gokulam and Brindavan Layout, we have carried out a special drive by drawing rangoli to prevent garbage dumping and this has yielded desired results,” he said.