& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Keeping Kalabagan Clean

by Morshed Ali Khan
ONLY .1 lew years ago, Kalabagan area of the ci tv stank with rotten and left out garbage In front of eve tv house. pile* of uncollected lubbish gave access to all sorts of scavangets who tn turn scattered it all over making lite unbearable for the residents
Although similar scenes are quite common in our city life, in this particular case a single handed private initiative changed the whole face of the area of the city
It all started in 1987 when Mahbub Ahsan Khurram, a longtime resident of the Kal-abagan area returned home from Europe after several years — only to find the place enveloped in litter.
Typical of many inner city areas, narrow streets, lanes and by-lanes of Kalabagan hampered the Dhaka City Corporation s (DCC) day to day garbage collection.
The residents thus remained hostage to the refuse that they themselves produced regularly .
Khurram, an arts graduate and a computer operator, thought of doing something about the garbage problem of his area
He recalled his early years when he had just returned home. Within only three years' time the area had be come so crowded. Blocks of flats could now accommodate a good number of families in a small area
The locality generated mostly kitchen garbage, Khurram thought of creating a network to collect this retuse from the doorsteps and then dump it in the large demountable container in the
main road
*1 first went around the area and talked to the ren dents," said Khurram, 'there was a mixed response to my idea, many even discouraged me.'
But nothing could deter Khurram He approached the DCC to ask them for two unused rickshaws which could be converted into garbage
"The DCC had, in their confiscation yard, a lot of them But they were unable to offer any assistance.' Khur ram said Khurram then pur chased two old rickshaw cha-sis and turned them into car tiers The total cost came to about Tk. 20,000.
Every household of his neighbourhood was promised
a clean and healthy litter free area providing they paid a fee of ten taka per month.
Those who refused to collaborate Khurram offered them free trial service for a month. Only thing they were asked to do was to send their servants with the garbage as soon as the collectors honked
Khurram initially employed two people th do the job. They would go on a
round every morning, collect the garbage and then dump it in the designated area.
"In the beginning when my collectors arrived on the spot, they would use bells to announce their arrival," Khurram recalled," this posed a problem because many in the flats could not hear it."
One day, on a visit to the old town Khurram bought two old pump-honks. They were loud enough!
After nearly seven years in the trade Khurram now has seven hundred households ■ availing his services. He employs six people and two to three Tokais (street urchins) are encouraged to separate the recyclable items from the garbage.
"The items are then sold to a shop and the Tokais are paid their due shares.” Khurram added.
The area now stands as one of the cleanest of the city. Garbage cannot be seen on the streets. The drains are clear and therefore the problem of water logging, once regular in the area, is now a matter of the past.
Khurram also claims that power failure in the neighbourhood due to crows carrying large pieces of refuse and placing on the electric wires and causing short circuits has not occurred ever since he took over the services.
The scheme has been so successful that young people from many other parts of the city have been coming to him for advice.
It was learnt that similar schemes would soon be started in Purana Paltan, Malibagh, Gulshan, Crescent Road of Dhanmondi and other parts of the capital.