The Rajpur Community Initiative (RCI) has joined hands with local NGO Waste Warriors to clean up and transform Rajpur. As part of the project, a clean-up was organised at the Rajpur market chowk on the weekend. According to Waste Warriors, a large plot of land at the main Rajpur Chowk which is a disputed property with Municipal Corporation of Dehradun, Forest Department and a private party, all claiming ownership.
However, none of these parties feel any sense of responsibility when it comes to maintaining the land hence it has turned into an open ground for dumping waste. Waste Warriors decided as this is an integral area of the community it should at least be clean. The Waste Warriors team with Rajpur Community Initiative members along with six Master of Social Work (MSW) students from SGRR (PG) College and several local people cleaned the site in the morning.
In the afternoon session, the team was joined by 30 students from Drona’s College of Management & Technical Education (DCMTE). Apart from the cleaning, a small stone trough for feeding stray cows and bulls was also set up. The nearby vegetable vendors were requested to put all their edible waste in this trough instead of putting it in the waste container. The students also helped to clean and set up an area for a composting heap to compost garden waste and organic waste not consumed by the stray animals.
According to the activists, 350 kg of non-recyclables and 80 kg of recyclable waste, along with four bags of broken glass bottles weighing about 50 kg were collected for proper disposal. Shubham Bisht, a local from Rajpur who volunteered at the clean-up said, “I have been passing by this plot of land and have seen it getting worse over the years with waste being dumped by nearby businesses and locals. It was really great to finally do something about it. The transformation that we have made at this place in just a few hours is proof that nothing is impossible if we put our minds and our hearts to doing something”
Rajpur Community Initiative has funded the project wherein two dustbins are placed at the Rajpur market chowk for the general public to use. They have also employed one Waste Warriors staff member who cleans and then maintains the area on a daily basis. In the next week, more dustbins will be installed in public places, the dumpsites on the Dhakpatti climb are to be cleared and an additional member of staff is to be assigned for cleaning and maintaining Rajpur.
The plans are underway to conduct education programmes with schools and door-to-door awareness for local residents to appraise them about the project and to seek contributions through volunteering and/or financial support. Clean up drives are being held every second Saturday of the month in Rajpur as part of the transformation project.