Garudacharpalya Residents and Students Rebuild Trash-Covered Footpath

Residents and school students came together in Garudacharpalya on August 15 to clear an unofficial garbage dump and reconstruct a pedestrian footpath along Goshala Road outside Purva Park Ridge.

For months, the stretch had been buried under household waste, plastic, and construction debris, forcing pedestrians and school children to walk on the road amid heavy traffic. Local children frequently had to wait near the garbage-strewn area every morning for their school buses.

During the drive on the morning of August 15, approximately 30 residents joined BBMP pourakarmikas for a five-hour operation. Together, they removed roughly 1.5 tonnes of accumulated garbage and debris from the stretch.

After clearing the waste, the team leveled the ground, laid a stone base, and installed interlocking paving blocks to construct a walkable footpath. The edge of the new walkway was painted in black and white, while the front of the footpath was painted in the colours of the national flag to commemorate Independence Day.

The community initiative was organised by Sriram Rupanagunta, a local entrepreneur and resident. He noted that civic infrastructure requires ongoing attention rather than being left unattended after construction, warning that without regular community involvement alongside the local civic body, public spaces risk returning to dumping grounds.

Raunak Bagchi, a Class 4 student at Greenwood High International School who participated in painting the new walkway, said the area previously smelled bad due to the piled-up waste. He expressed hope that the newly paved stretch would remain clean.

Santanu Bhattacharya, a resident and scientist at the MIT Media Lab, said that merely cleaning a stretch is not enough to prevent dumping over time. He emphasised that physically paving the area, painting it, and involving local children in the work fosters long-term ownership and maintenance of public spaces.