Polls over, cleaning time

A group of Telangana activists have taken up the responsibility to clean the city by removing the flags, posters and banners of political parties that are leftovers from the recent Formation Day.

Their main goal is to help the civic bodies identify the places and help in the cleaning process, making it a collective effort.

Syed Shah Ali Hussaini, an RTI activist, has created a Facebook event named Clean Hyderabad: Remove Posters/Flags/Banners along with a few friends.

The page reads, “Let’s not wait till GHMC wakes up and removes these posters. Let’s take action and push the party and authorities to clean our city.”

Ali says, “Any person indulging in disfigurement of a public place is punishable by law. The formation of Telangana was a historical event and all of us celebrated. So the TRS party installed posters, flags and banners. But now that celebrations are over, these posters, banners and flags need to be removed. This is not concerned to any political party, it is a genuine concern for my city.”

Pointing out the three reasons that made him create the event, he says, “Firstly, I noticed that at crucial turnings in the city, these hoardings were blocking the view of oncoming traffic. Also, gardens on the central medians looked ugly with all the flags scattered. Lastly, I wanted people to be aware that they can also raise complaints and talk to their MLAs regarding  grievances they face.”

Ali had raised a similar concern with two Telugu Desam MLAs A. Gandhi of Serilingampally constituency and Vivekanand of Qutbullapur constituency, since they had installed flags and hoardings across the city as part of the Mahanadu. Ali later noticed that the flags were removed the next day. So he is hopeful of a positive response from  TRS MLAs too.

The RTI activist adds, “Most people hesitate to engage with the political parties they elected. Moreover, a large number of people are not aware that it is a violation of law. So I am trying to make people more responsible. Also, with this, even the politicians will feel that they are being watched by people.”

The event has got positive responses from a few TRS MLAs, including Chandrashekar Reddy from Ibrahimpatnam and Prem Kumar from Goshamahal, who have promised to remove the posters. The group also wants people to lodge complaints with  the GHMC if they notice that the flags and banners have not been taken down yet.