Friday, April 29, 2011

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
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"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!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Spotfix 13 - Before & After (Spot Quiz 13)

Location - This stretch of Magrath Road sees thousands of pedestrians everyday going between Brigade Rd & Garuda Mall.



This place had to be seen and smelt to be believed - this was a typical shot of how it looked for the past several years. This is accumulated assorted muck (human, plastic and other waste) along with a collapsing brick wall that serves as a 50-feet long public urinal

Some Ugly Indians showed up one morning to attack the garbage....
  
Check out the result ! The best test for a rescued corner is when people stand and linger, smoke/make phone calls.
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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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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Spotfix 12 - Before & After (Spot Quiz 12)

Location - Junction of Brigade Road and Magrath Road.

Thousands of people walk here everyday on the way from Brigade Road to to Garuda Mall. It is a urinal, garbage dump and total eyesore.

The spot was fixed by a few Ugly Indians in December, 2010. A temporary job, but it worked for a month. Then the Namma Metro soil testing team dug up the place for 2 weeks, destroyed the garden, and when they left the Spot lapsed back to its original filthy state.The Ugly Indians were back with a more permanent fix. With new tools, materials, skills and determination. A work still  in progress, but there is a distinct improvement. ~ TUI
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Thursday, April 7, 2011

TUI spots - A Non-Ugly Railway Platform!

Location - Bangalore Railway Station

Click here to see more pictures of the Railway platform in Bangalore

This is Platform 1 of Bangalore City Railway Station and well maintained. These photos were taken by TUI on a regular evening before boarding a train.

"It proves that it IS possible to have a clean public space in India, and that should give us hope.
To paraphrase Gandhiji, we need to first see the change we want to be.
Once we believe it is possible and know what it takes to keep a station platform clean, the model can be scaled.. Cynicism starts when you don't believe change is possible (what is the point etc). But when you see that other Ugly Indians have changed, you see the point in changing your behaviour to be like them." ~ TUI

" You need to SEE the change you want to BE. That is why we do Spotfixes - so people can See and believe, and maybe try to Be. " - The Ugly Indian

Monday, April 4, 2011

Spotfix 11 - Before and After (Spot Quiz 11)

Location - Opposite St Patrick's Complex (near Indiana Fast foods), and opposite the War Memorial Park / BMTC Bus Terminus at the end of Brigade Road.


This majestic rain tree opposite St Patrick's Complex (opposite the War Memorial park at the end of Brigade Road, Bangalore) has borne the brunt of its neighbours' poor civic sense for decades. Resigned to being a garbage dump, and braving the occasional fire & smoke from burning, this tree symbolises how our city has changed over the past 30 years

It needed a few Ugly Indians to restore respect and dignity to the tree. Magically, the garbage has stopped coming (those dumping here everyday took the trouble to dump at the official points), and this tree has been smiling now. And the nearby shopowners too, who tend to the new garden where once there were garbage & rats.


This is the only surviving rain tree from a large avenue of trees that lined the entrance to the 19th century St Patrick's Church and the World War I memorial. Surely, it deserves better. Till last week, it was a daily pick-up point on the route of the BBMP Garbage lorry- thankfully, the lorry doesn't need to stop here anymore. ~ TUI

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