Nellore: Motivated by two teachers who were inspired by Swachh Bharat programme implemented by a doctor couple along with locals at Cherlapalli town in Krishna district since last 900 days, as many as 50 youth embarked on a mission to keep Iskapalem village which is part of mandal headquarters town, Thotapalligudur clean and green. It is not just a one-day show for publicity, the activity has been continuing from last 90 days without break come rain or sunshine in the habitation located 15 km from Nellore city.
It all began with a visit to Cherlapalli by teachers, Thota Srinivasa Rao and Ingilala Balakrishna along with a team of youths from Thotapalligudur at the instance of Praja Science Vedika in April this year. “We were amazed with the commitment and the selfless service of doctors D.R.K. Prasad and Dr Padmavathi and locals to convert most unhygienic environment at Cherlapalli into an affable atmosphere during a visit arranged by Praja Science Vedika in April this year. It is then we decided to follow their footsteps and improve greenery and cleanliness in our village too,” Balakrishna said.
They launched the Swachh Iskapalem Mission on May 5 without support from the government and are continuing the activity. It was not an easy job, especially to dissuade people habituated to defaecating on the roadside at the entrance of the town and even on a road leading to the village temple. The teachers, with the help of local youth, planted trees and cleaned these two roads in such a manner that the locals were forced to think twice before using them to relieve themselves.
Besides cleaning the roads on daily basis, the youths have also been planting trees on the roadside and encouraging the construction of lavatories, especially in SC, ST colonies. They claimed credit for the construction of 90 toilets in the village. The team planted 150 seedlings to celebrate the 50th day of their mission and secured a pushcart to collect garbage from the households to force change the habit of throwing garbage on the roadside.
Incidentally, there is no dumping yard for the town with 500 households and 2,500 population. The teachers and youth have been banking on revenue officials to allot a small piece of land for garbage disposal. The team members Vakati Sekhar, Venugopal, Sankar, Venkataramaiah, senior citizens Kani Venkaiah and Malladi Narasimham said residents of nearby villages are coming to them for advice to launch similar activities in their villages. They thanked ACB DSP Thota Prabhakar, a native of the village, and an honest officer for his support to their mission.
