HYDERABAD'S SANITATION WORKERS ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP CHARMINAR NEAT AND CLEAN.

HYDERABAD'S SANITATION WORKERS ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP CHARMINAR NEAT AND CLEAN

HYDERABAD: DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS TENDS TO KEEP THE CITY NEAT AND CLEAN, ESPECIALLY THE HISTORIC CHARMINAR WHICH IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE CITY, HAS AS ALWAYS FALLEN ON INVISIBLE HEROES. SANITATION WORKERS OF IXORA FM IN COLLABORATION WITH GREATER HYDERABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (GHMC) ENSURED THAT THE CHARMINAR, WHICH IS THE CITY’S FOUNDATION, AND ITS SURROUNDINGS REMAIN CLEAN.

HERE ARE THE STORIES OF SOME SANITATION WORKERS OF IXORA FM GROUP A CITY-BASED STARTUP IN COLLABORATION WITH GREATER HYDERABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (GHMC) TAKEN AN INITIATIVE AND A MISSION ‘HAMARA CHARMINAR – SWACHH CHARMINAR’ TO KEEP THE AREA OF THE HISTORIC STRUCTURE NEAT AND CLEAN.

THEY SHARE HOW THEY CARRIED OUT THE CLEANING WORK DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN AND EVEN NOW IN THIS SLIGHTLY CHILLY NIGHTS OF WINTERS WITH THE TEMPERATURE NEVER DROPPING TOO LOW. SANITATION WORKERS IN HYDERABAD KEEPS THE CITY RUNNING BY SWEEPING TRASH, EMPTYING RECYCLE BINS, ALSO BY CLEANING.

WITH ALL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PROVIDED BY THE IXORA FM AS SANITATION WORKERS ARE EXPOSED TO THE DIRT. EVERY NIGHT THESE WORKERS CLEAN CHARMINAR, MAKKAH MASJID, CHOWMAHALA PALACE ROAD, SALAR JUNG MUSEUM ROAD, LAAD BAZAR ROAD, NAYAPUL ROAD AND GULZAR HOUZ. THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN HONORED AND FELICITATED BY THE STARTUP FOR THEIR TIRELESS EFFORTS TO KEEP CHARMINAR CLEAN AMID THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

A SANITATION WORKER OF IXORA FM, YADIYAMMA HAS BEEN SWEEPING TRASH AT CHARMINAR FOR 14 MONTHS. HER OFFICIAL TITLE IS “SANITATION WORKER”. “I CLEAN THE ENTIRE STRETCH FROM GULZAR HOUZ TILL THE CHARMINAR. MY JOB IS TO REMOVE THRASH PILED UP IN AND AROUND THE STRUCTURE. THEN I START COLLECTING THE TRASH, EVEN IN LOCKDOWN WE HAVE KEPT THE CHARMINAR CLEAN.”

SPEAKING ABOUT THE CLEANING, MOHAMMED OMER, A SANITATION SUPERVISOR OF IXORA FM, SAID, “I HAD LOST MY JOB DUE TO LOCKDOWN BUT LUCKILY I HAD EXPERIENCE IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT, I CAME ACROSS THIS STARTUP AND APPLIED FOR THE JOB." OMER SUPERVISES THE CLEANING WORKS HE CLEANS THE GRANITE COBBLE (TILES) WHICH WAS LAID AROUND THE MONUMENT AS PART OF THE CHARMINAR PEDESTRIAN PROJECT (CPP). "THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DAILY VISIT CHARMINAR AND TONNES OF TRASH PILES UP HERE BUT WE SANITATION WORKERS COME AT WORK AROUND 12:00 AM EVERY DAY, ENSURE THAT THE DIRT FORMED IN THE FLOOR GETS COMPLETELY CLEAN SO THAT WHEN VISITORS COME NEXT DAY CAN SEE THE CLEAN AND GREEN CHARMINAR," OMER ADDED.

MANISH SINGH FEELS THAT CITIZENS MUST TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP OUR ‘PURANA SHEHAR’ (OLD CITY) CLEAN AT LEAST THE HISTORIC PLACES, “WE HAD BEEN WORKING AT THE CHARMINAR FROM MORE THAN 3 YEARS, AFTER FINISHING UP THE CLEANING WORK WE GO TO EACH AND EVERY SHOP FOR SPREADING AWARENESS OF KEEPING THE CITY CLEAN. SOME SHOP OWNERS CAME FORWARD APPRECIATED OUR CLEANING WORK WITH FELICITATION ALSO CONTRIBUTED BY NOT LITTERING THE PLACE WITH PLASTIC COVER OR OTHER TRASH.”

THEY SHARED THAT THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY HEALTH ISSUES DURING THE PANDEMIC AS THE STARTUP HAVE CONDUCTED REGULAR HEALTH CHECKUPS OF THE ENTIRE SANITATION TEAM INCLUDING COVID-19 TESTS.

KRISHNA CHAITANYA ONE OF THE DIRECTORS OF IXORA FM TOLD THAT “WE USE HIGH-END SWEEPERS AND SCRUBBERS TO CLEAN THE FLOORING AND SINGLE DESK MACHINES ARE USED WITH HIGH-QUALITY CHEMICALS TO ENSURE THE GRANITE CAN SHINE.”

HE FURTHER TOLD THAT THE IDEA IS TO OFFER EMPLOYMENT TO THE YOUTH IN A VARIETY OF CLEANING DRIVERS AT MULTIPLE PLACES ACROSS OLD CITY OF HYDERABAD, “WE TRAIN THE SANITATION WORKERS TO USE THE MACHINES AND TO PERFORM THE QUALITY CLEANING WORKS AT THE CHARMINAR,” HE ADDED.