TUI Spotfix - Road Reclamation

Location - Church Street

TUI tries to fix a manhole cover jutting out eating up 20% of the road and creating a Traffic hazard on Church Street. 





What they discover is not a sewerage chamber but a Tata Indicom telecom cable junction!

The team of UIs set about creating a neat hole to pack the cables and replacing the cover. It is a delicate business to keep the wires protected and it  takes them a fair amount of trial and error.

It takes just an hour of hard work by TUI to reclaim the road !

"Not bad for an hour's hard labour:)
Try it sometime - surely, there's a poorly placed manhole cover near your home/office! All you need is a crowbar and a few enthusiastic people." ~ TUI

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TUI Spot Fix - Rescuing a Telecom Pillar

Location - Central Bangalore District



To remove posters, first soak the surface in water (use a brush, sponge or a wet cloth).
Let the water soak for about 5 mins. This makes it easier to peel off/brush off the posters.
Buy a putty blade from any hardware store (costs Rs 5). It is the most effective weapon against posters.
And start scraping. It is a laborious job and does damage to the paint surface. The stronger the adhesive used, the longer it takes.
The putty blade helps in removing dried paan stains too

Go to any paint shop, and buy 1 litre of "Smoke Grey" or "Nickel Grey" oil paint. Mix with thinner, and start painting.

We use Asian Paints - it costs about Rs 150 for 1 litre - and that is sufficient for 1 pillar of this size. Thinner costs about Rs 40 and a decent brush about Rs 100.
 the basic cost of materials to transform a pillar of this size is under Rs 300. Sweat and fire-in-belly comes free, of course. And the brush can be reused (if washed and stored properly).
The impact of a fresh coat of paint is quite dramatic.

Simple removing posters will not do. It is not enough of a deterrent for the poster-putter.
The surface needs to look like new, like someone cares about it.

~ TUI

Click here to see in Pictures TUI Spotfixing a Telecom pillar


Here are a few  more pictures of TUI rescuing Telecom Pillars. 
SpotFixing a few BESCOM boxes 

Spotfixing area around BESCOM box

Spotfixing BESCOM box by KC Das Employees


TUI currently has rescued and continues to maintain 30 BESCOM boxes in and around Church St.It takes Rs 300 and 2 hours to fix a Telecom Pillar, Will you try this in your area?

TUI Birthday - The First spotfix - what got them Started

TUI approaches its FIRST BIRTHDAY on Nov 12th!
 In their own words here is how or what got them started!!

 

What really got us started 1 year ago was seeing this Ugly Spot on Church Street.

We could not understand how this was tolerated in the middle of Church Street (right opp Barton Centre, Amoeba, Ruby Tuesday, Saigon, Shrungar Shopping Centre, Indian Coffee House) - and how everyone we asked threw up their hands and said - it has ALWAYS been like this.

We wondered - why isn't someone doing something about it? Doesn't it matter? This is the city's prime restaurant street, for God's sake!




Then we discovered that there were 6 such large open dumps spread across the 1km long Church Street - that had garbage "23x7". And about 5-6 smaller dumps. They were part of the 'system'. The clearing lorry came at 9am everyday (they were prompt), the place remained clean for 1 hour at most, and then dumping began again. This was 'normal'! Everyone played their part - the dumpers and cleaners, and life went on. And nobody was willing to change it.

Church Street is a windy street - so the whole place looks a mess all day.
We felt that if these 6 Dumps were eliminated, the street would become less dirty.

It seemed like commonsense. It would be easy to criticise this 'spot' fixing approach as a 'Band-aid', but we felt that Some aid was better than No aid. How long should we wait for a Miracle Cure - better to start small, apply band-aids and small spotfixes, and improve the overall health of the street
 .

Click here for more Shocking pictures of Ugly Spots on Church Street taken in 2010.

There are 40 Major Ugly Spots, and another 20 minor spots. On a road that is barely 1 kilometre long.

And after the spot fixes this is how one of the spots look today!

Check out the more of TUI spotfix pictures and videos. 

.....more stories will follow with more posts by TUI....

Spotfix 15 - Installing Tere Bins that work!

Can you Spot the terebin? Can you see how clean the footpath is - hundreds of smokers and gutka-consumers congregate at this spot on Shrungar Complex on Church Street - and you can see how civic-conscious they are if they are given a chance

Acceptance by the sweepers is crucial too.
Yengaiah, the BBMP sweeper, single-handedly sweeps all of MG Road every morning from 7-9am. The sample Tere Bins help him save time and effort, as pedestrians have used the Bin rather than thrown their litter about.Here he sweeps the footpath outside Times of India/Wipro office on MG Road ~ TUI

This photo was taken at 7am - all 3 bins are full (of chaicups, gutka packets and cigarette butts). Note that there are no paan stains at the base of the bin - people spit directly inside. The floor looks a bit messy as this is early morning and the wind has been at work all night. These bins get cleared twice a day! ~ TUI

MG Road, Brigade Road and Church Street, St Marks Rd, Lavelle Rd are covered. Each of these spots has been identified based on current littering behaviour and location of litter-generating shops (food stalls, fast food joints, hawkers, cigarette shops) More Terebins are being added to different locations in Bangalore. ( Note - This is a map from june 2011) ~ TUI

l
"Looking good 24x7 is a crucial part of the design. A dirty looking dustbin just doesn't work. The tereBin actually enhances the look of the street and contributes to a sense of order simply by its presence - and when a tereBin is placed near a dirty old 'animal-shaped-dustbin', it is always used in preference." - TUI

TereBins at Freedom Park

TereBins at Freedom Park - 2


Click here to know how you can adopt a TereBin!

Spotfix 14 - Before & After (Spot Quiz 14)

Location - St.Patrick's Church in Residency Rd

This is the daily scene in front of the historic St Patrick's Church. Built in 1844, it is the spiritual centre for the city's Catholic community. Sadly, there is a civic mess at the main entrance - open dumping, raw meat, overflowing sewage, scavenging animals, an overpowering stench and a total sense of disorder and helplessness. ~ TUI



Now a footpath has been created by TUI, there is a sense of neatness and order, and magically civic behaviour has changed. Garbage is now neatly bagged, the footpath is swept, the plants are watered, people walk safely on the footpath and church-goers were in for a pleasant surprise last Sunday. ~ TUI

THERE IS HOPE! :)

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Spotfix 10 - Before and After (Spot Quiz 10)

Location - Opposite the Times of India and Wipro offices, on the narrow lane joining MG Road and Church Street (the lane is Rest House Rd)

This wall has been lying untouched for years. It serves as a urinal and garbage dump and is also used as a parking space by the Times Now broadcast vans and cars for TOI and Wipro. Their drivers sit around all day in the muck.

The design is simple, yet striking.

 This is a quick way to transform an ugly wall/transformer in a matter of hours.

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Spotfix 9 - TereBin and Street Sign ( Spot Quiz 9)

Sign boards and Tere Bins part of the TUI Spot fix.

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Spotfix 8 - Before & After (Spot Quiz 8)

Location - Intersection of Church St and Brigade Rd

This is the entrance to Church Street, at the intersection with Brigade Road. Probably the most prime commercial space in Bangalore - yet such an Ugly spot.

Notice the new street sign, and the little garden that has sprung up behind the blue telecom box.

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Spotfix 7 - Before and After ( Spot Quiz 7)

Location - In front of RR on Church Street, and opposite Nando's and Matteo (earlier NASA).

A typical day on a corner of a very important street in Bangalore. The real estate value here is among the highest in the city. Discarded carpets, tube-lights and a couple of dead rats in the background.

Check out more Before Pictures here and here

This involved painting the electricity box, creating a platform, painting the curb, designing and creating a garden, and involving the neighbors who now maintain it. No garbage is thrown here now, the urination has stopped and it has made the place look quite nice.  
The advertising boards keep the poster stickers away, and somewhat block the visibility of the ugly stuff behind.The live wires at hand height used to 'switch on' the streetlights everyday (by connecting them!) are now safely within a switch ~ TUI

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Spotfix 6 - Before and After ( Spot Quiz 6)

 Location -  The gate opposite Amoeba on Church St

This spot is on Church Street, between Shrungar Shopping Centre & Barton Centre and right opposite Ruby Tuesday, Saigon, Amoeba, Three Quarter Chinese, Indian Coffee House, Queens.

The family of 13 rats has moved elsewhere. :)

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Spotfix 5 - Before and After (Spot Quiz 5)

Location - The Rear wall of Deccan Herald on Church St.

The paanwala has been here for 27 years. he provides the stuff for the paan spitter, who then takes a leak round the corner near the Electricity box which says "Danger High Voltage". The paanwala cannot recall a day when this wall was clean.

The fresh paan stains (and some old ones several years old) attract other forms of defacement. The sign scrawled in red says "INDIA RECOGNISE TAMIL EELAM - AN HINDU COUNTRY". It is a dated political message and has been on this wall for years...

Click here for more Before Pictures.

People don't feel the need to walk on the road with their noses covered. In fact, the pedestrian traffic on this footpath has increased dramatically. The salesman from the icecream parlour opposite (Kiwikiss) stands here and promotes his business.

And when it becomes fit enough to become a Food street, the transformation is complete.

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Spotfix 2 - Before & After ( Spot Quiz 2 )

Location - The corner of Rest House Crescent and Church Street

This is  right opposite the offices of Wipro, Times of India, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and GK Vale. And the view from the window at Kaati Zone.

This photo could have been taken any day - this dump was always there, as long as anyone can remember. Hundreds of employees of Wipro and Times of India have been walking by this everyday, on their way to work

It's been looking like this  after the TUI Spotfix.

After the TUI Spotfix, surviving with no supervision since Aug 2010! There is Hope!

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