Citizenship Spot Fix

1st August 2015 -SPOT FIX The Citizenship Programme of The Indian School with New Delhi Rising at Defence Colony Market and Defence Colony Naala.

Participants:- Gravit Chopra (8E), Sarthak Agarwal (8D), Saksham( 8C), Priyanka Arora (10), Saksham Goyal (11) and coordinator, Ms. Sangeeta Aswani.

The Spot fix involved two areas of Defence Colony with the help of MCD workers. At 11 am we reached the Defence Colony Naala (E1-C140) where a group of MCD workers with some trucks and bulldozers and members of New Delhi Rising had started work to clean up the area around the Naala. They were removing weeds, malba, bricks and garbage with the help of shovels and picks. This drive was initiated by the local Counsellor (after a request by New Delhi Rising and The Indian School) to clean up the grounds so that we could plant trees and place benches in an effort to beautify the area.

While this was being done, the children of The Indian School took buckets and brushes and proceeded to the Market to undertake maintainence of the work done earlier. This time, they planned to also talk to the workers of the restaurants about the importance of cleanliness while handling food.

First we took a walk around the entire market, the front and back lanes, and identified the dirtiest areas especially behind the restaurants. The children spoke to the workers about how they must wash their hands and the raw vegetables before and after handling, and the right way to dispose water and garbage. Those standing around were impressed to hear what the children spoke and soon a small crowd of residents gathered to motivate them. The children also spoke to the florists and paanwalas and told them to dispose the waste directly into the bins rather than on the pavement.

Next, the children took their bristled brushes and began to clean the areas that had been vandalized by random posters and garbage. After about 90 minutes, we wrapped up for the day and told the restaurant staff that we would return soon to check their efforts to improve the area in the back lanes.

Meanwhile, a partial clean up of the garbage was done near the Defence Colony Naala, and it was agreed upon that once the entire area was clear, we would return in a few weeks to beautify it.

Ms. Sangeeta Aswani.