DPS students embark on mission ‘clean Patna’

Patna: The Patna high court observed in September that ‘Patna is the dirtiest state capital in the country’. It may not have moved the officials, but certainly ignited the fire among some schoolchildren in the city who have taken it upon themselves to achieve the task of a ‘clean and green Patna’.
Class VIII students of Delhi Public School, Patna, have donned the hats of urban planners as a part of their ‘Civic Project 2014-15’.They will clean different city roads besides spreading awareness about civic sense through interaction with the residents. Over 350 students are participating in the project in 33 different groups, each comprising 8-12 members.
DPS, Patna, teacher Rashmi Singh, who’s coordinating the project, said the students have identified several areas such as Kankarbagh auto stand, Patna City roads, Gayatri Mandir Road, Rajiv Nagar railway crossing, etc. “They first need to identify the problems like road condition, footpath, garbage, drainage, lighting, parking, etc and propose solution to the problem like ‘what the road could be’. They will then take the proposal to the respective local body authorities and persuade them to improve the condition of the roads,” Singh said.
The development of roads, Singh believes, leads to the development of the whole area. “We’ve been organizing the project for the last three years and the students are given a resource book, ‘I Change My City’, which helps them in choosing the roads,” she said.
One of the groups undertaking the task to clean the roads near Rajiv Nagar railway crossing met Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) executive officer Vishal Anand on Wednesday evening and apprised him about the problems facing the area residents. “There is no garbage disposal system there and most of the litter is strewn on the roads. Dearth of street lights and parking issues also plague the area,” group leader Harshit Dayal said.
“The PMC official told us that he is not much aware of the area and will visit the road with us on Thursday afternoon to look into the matter,” he said. The students will also take to brooms on Saturday to clean the area and spread awareness among the locals. “We’ve also printed pamphlets which have pictures and some text asking people not to throw garbage on the road, etc,” another group member Simran Gupta said. Other members of her group include Yunis, Pallav, Sanat, Lucent, Aryaman, Keshav, Prabhu, Vinayak and Shantanu.
The 33 groups will submit a project report and make a presentation about the progress of their projects at the school on November 21. Nine groups will be shortlisted. The selected groups will participate in the final round in December for the winners’ award.