Celebrity SpotFix - Sachin Goes Spotfixing!

"SACHIN goes spotfixing! This is true Bandra Reclamation!
Working from 430-630am to avoid traffic problems, Sachin has raised the bar. Not just symbolic sweeping for a photo-op, but real hard work for several hours - debris & weed clearing, urine-soaked mud removal, wall painting, bench & pot placement - all to reclaim a Bandra footpath. Isn't this wonderful? Why don't you go out and do the same ? This is one activity where you can, perhaps, dare to be as good as Sachin!" ~ The Ugly Indian

"The footpath on the road opposite the Bandra Reclamation Bus Depot was not being used by pedestrians as it was dumped with litter and garbage and covered with wild growth. In fact, the footpath was being misused as a place to answer nature’s call!!

With a team of friends who volunteered with me, we started early in the morning to ensure minimal disruption to public and motorists. With broomsticks, spade (fauda), mattock (kudal), we started our contribution towards the Swachh Bharat initiative. Within an hour, we were joined by some rickshaw drivers who were curiously watching us till then. As the sun was rising, some locals also joined our efforts. Then came our friendly chaiwala, offering tea to the entire team. After two hours of continuous efforts, we still were far from half done. The wild growth needed special attention and we decided to get some help during the day. It was also decided we needed to beautify the place so that locals are encouraged to maintain the footpath

The following morning we had to clean the dump and litter which had been dumped during the previous day. It was frustrating but also indicated the reality of the challenge that this endeavour was going to face.

After the clean up, we decided to paint the compound wall adjoining the footpath. We also coordinated with the local municipal corporator, who was enthusiastic in his response to put up plants, benches and solar lighting. The Mumbai Police also extended its support by ensuring that no illegal parking happens along the footpath.

Please do watch the video which captures the effort of the team on film. The stretch seems small but the effort was immense! I am committed to do more and urge all of you to do your bit in making #CleanIndia a reality.


Swachh Bharat Hi Sach Bharat Hai!"  

~ Sachin Tendulkar

Watch the amazing Spotfix video by Sachin Tendulkar

TUI SpotFix! - Ugly Corner Transformation in Defence Colony!

Location - Vacant Plot in Defence Colony

The ugly open-air urinal in the vacant plot gets a facelift.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES OF SPOTFIXING THE UGLY CORNER IN DEFENCE COLONY

TUI Corporate Spotfix! - By Thoughtworks @ Koramangala

Location : Thoughtworks, Koramangala 3rd block

The dark side of 24x7 Work Culture - the 24x7 Litter Culture.
The once-a-day street sweeping designed for quiet residential areas cannot handle the software companies with 24x7 high-volume litter generation.

The street opposite the ThoughtWorks office in Koramangala 3rd Block has been a huge mess for years. Some people said 'enough is enough'.  And this is what they did!!





"In this particular instance, the govt does its job of sweeping the street every morning at 9am. That doesn't really help if hundreds of employees of nearby companies litter continuously for the rest of the day. Think how demotivating this could be to the govt sweeper - despite doing what she is supposed to do, she gets blamed. Let's start getting real about who litters and who cleans up. "

~ TUI

TUI Spotfix! - Transforming Defence Colony

Location - Defense Colony


Over 100 Ugly Indians and Defence Colony residents (Decora -Defence Colony Residents Association) came  together to execute dozens of spotfixes (mini and mega) across the length and breadth of Defence Colony.

Spotfixing the wall of Chinmaya Hospital (of CMH Rd fame).

"The guys who did this didn't need to be corporators to do this. Any of us has the power to do this outside our homes - this is a government 'of the people' after all. Each citizen is empowered to clean his own area - it would be better if people started doing that and see the impact!" ~ TUI

Spotfixing a vacant plot, with a boundary wall, used as a garbage dump.
An attempt to make the wall 'looked after'. It has worked. No garbage has come here the past 3 days and all the neighbours are happy with the design. In fact, they were involved in the process of painting the wall. -TUI

Meet Mrs Kapoor, who is 90 years young. She worked for 2 hours on Sunday to fix her street in Defence Colony. What more inspiration do you need to fix your street? -TUI

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES OF SPOTFIXING DEFENCE COLONY BY RESIDENTS AND UGLY INDIANS

"One has to start somewhere. The good news is that 3 of the Ugly Spots fixed in Defence Colony last Sunday have remained clean for a week now (most residents had given up on their ever getting fixed) - and those that used to create the mess seem to have changed their daily mess-creating behaviour. TUI believes in gradual incremental changes - silent work has been going on behind-the-scenes the past week and there has been a very high level of support (incl from those who created the mess)!" ~ TUI on FB on 21/4/2012

The Chinmaya Mission Hospital Bus parks here every night - earlier it used to park on the roadside and block an entire lane. Not only has the garbage problem been solved, a parking spot has been created (see entire album for 'Before-After pictures).

"The BBMP has used this point as a temporary dumping point for years - but once they saw the work, the Inspector agreed to change his collection methods. This is the way to deal with the BBMP - do not complain - just go out there and do the work quietly, and they rise to the occasion and reciprocate.
there were several households who dumped here everyday taking advantage of the existing dump. TUI volunteers met each resident and aligned their daily dumping schedule with the door-to-door pick up system (which they were not using). There has been 100% compliance the past 2 days. Sincere work is always recognised by all." ~ TUI on FB

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES OF HOW DEFENCE COLONY RESIDENTS CAME TOGETHER TO FIX GARBAGE DUMPS

TUI Corporate Spotfix! - By Grand Mercure Employees in Koramangala

Location - Grand Mercure Hotel, Koramangala 

The employees of the hotel Grand Mercure, Bangalore came out to beautify the street outside their hotel. 

This vacant plot attracts garbage (note the street dogs), and the tree stump adds to the ugliness of the area. This is a simple, low-cost way of converting an ugly spot into something beautiful.

Meet the SpotFixers from Grand Mercure, Bangalore!

 CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES OF GRAND MERCURE SPOTFIX IN KORAMANGALA

TUI Corporate Spotfix! - Saving Bagmane Tech Park!

Location - Bagmane Tech Park

30 employees from Sasken, Bagmane Tech Park volunteered to clean the mess outside this tech park and begin saving Bagmane Lake.

Check out the spotfixing videos





After this Initial clean up by Sasken,  20 employees from Dell, HP, Juniper and TI came together to clean up the area around Bagmane lake!


Click here to see more pictures of Saving Bagmane Lake



And this is the end result!!!



"Mar 30: Bagmane Lake cleaned of all cups by Sasken employees. Several dustbins installed, and clearing system setup.
No enforcement imposed - deliberately.

April 20: Over next 3 weeks (or 15 work days), over 8,000 cups landed here. That works out to about 500 thrown into the lake per day!
Daily sales of chai/coffee cups: 5000 (across 8 shops) - so about 10% of customers threw their cups in the lake. 90% do not.

April 23rd: Just 20 cups were found at 5pm. And promptly cleaned up. So the place looks totally clean on Tuesday morning.

Conclusion: Of 5,000 cups available to throw in the lake on Monday, just 20 got there - down from 500 earlier. About 96% of those who used to throw in the lake seem to have stopped.
Let's see what happens on Tuesday. We suspect the number to be about 20 again. We think that's acceptable...for now.

In ANY group or society, around 5% of the members violate the rules EVEN when fines are enforced. In a self-governing situation, it is normally 10% or more.

TUI is very pleased with the 96% behaviour change. If this sustains at this level for the next 5 days, there is serious cause for satisfaction as a SpotFix well done.

While aiming for 100% conversion is desirable, we don't think it will happen overnight. Let's recognise dramatic change when we see it. "

~ TUI

Some questions answered by TUI on Facebook.

Q: How are the cups disposed off after cleaning?
A: ALL the litter from the 12 shops is collected and kept in an 'unofficiaal dump' in the corner, from where it is picked up by the city authorities (BBMP), and taken to the Landfill sites. All the shopkeepers are technically illegal (as they are across India) so they do not get civic services from the city - however they have found an informal way of getting the garbage collected. We hope to find a way to formalise this. ~ TUI

Q:  Hope the near by company people will respect the work done by Common Citizen. Where is BBMP ?
A: As this entire stretch of shops is 'illegal' they get no formal BBMP support. This is the tragedy of urban India - essential services like street vendors are illegal and hence get no formal civic services support - is fact, this is the crux of the 'garbage problem' in cities like Bangalore. ~ TUI

Q: Please also provide dustbins there it looks like employees of the tech park themselves are dumping plastic cups?
A: Yes, the tech park employees are 100% responsible for this mess. This stretch is used ONLY by employees who work in Bagmane, and come here for tea-and-cigarette breaks. This is why we are calling on them to come out and cleanup. It's a real shame that this is tolerated. While 80% of them are conscious and use the bins provided (yes, there are dozens of bins there now), there are still many who nonchalantly toss their trash into the lake. ~ TUI

I Can Spotfix! - Wall fix @Ajmer

Location - Ajmer

Kailash Rawat spotfixes a wall in Ajmer along with a few others.

He has shown that all it takes is the will to do it and one can make it happen. Let us congratulate Kailash for taking up this initiative on his own far away in Ajmer.

Click here to see more pictures of this Spotfix!

"Why don't you try to SpotFix? The SpotFixers from Ajmer, Jaipur, Mysore and several parts of Bangalore have never met or spoken to TUI. They have just gone ahead and SpotFixed. TUI will feature and celebrate all SpotFixes on this Wall.  Go on - try something small on your street today." ~ TUI on Facebook

TUI Corporate Spotfix! - By Employees of Sasken!

Location - Inner ring Road, near Sasken Corporate HQ

Inspired by the Spotfixes by Dell and NetApp Employees near their offices, 40 Sasken Employees come together to clean up the road leading to their Office HQ in Bangalore.






"The neighbours have been involved in this spotfix. Some have worked with their hands, some have provided logistical support. Spotfixes always involve the neighbours! And passers by too! Otherwise they don't sustain" ~ TUI

 If you are interested to do a similar Spotfix near your office in Bangalore with your co-workers, please write to theuglyindian@gmail.com

Click here to view videos of other Spotfixes by Corporates!

I Can Spotfix! - Clean up Trek @ Pune

Location - Sinhagad,  Pune, Maharashtra

A group of youngsters in Pune organised a clean up trek in Sinhagad, Pune.
According to one of the Trekkers the waste collected were 10 bags of  plastic, glass and other non-recyclable items, of which the plastic bottles were sold to the to rag-pickers.

Click here to see their wonderful spotfix pictures

I Can Spotfix! - All is Well @ Dell - Part 2

Location - Ring road, near Dell Office

75 employees of Dell had come together  with TUI to spotfix the footpath near their office.

Check out  - TUI Corporate Spotfix by Dell Employees

18 of these volunteers wanted to do a bit more, they planned a spotfix to fix the median and another small stretch of the footpath near Dell.