The conservancy lane in Saheed Nagar that has been beautified. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct 13: At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is urging people to join Swachh Bharat campaign, a councillor of the municipal corporation has shown how to do it.

She has converted a polluted conservancy lane in Saheed Nagar into a beautiful park in the backyard of eight houses.

The conservancy lane, where nearly 14 tractor-loads of solid waste was lying even about a month ago, has been turned into a little oasis of beauty with a play zone for children.

Councillor of ward No. 30 Saswati Mishra has motivated eight plot owners to stop throwing waste in their backyards so that the space could get a makeover.

The area now has potted plants and space for women and kids to roam around.

Conservancy lanes are areas behind a series of houses in old colonies in Saheed Nagar, BJB Nagar, Satya Nagar, Surya Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Madhusudan Nagar and government colonies in the city, which can be cleaned by the civic staff.

The sewerage lines of the houses were also linked to the main line in the land earmarked as conservancy lane.

Saswati, in fact, got the inspiration from his husband Umanath Mishra, a former councillor from Saheed Nagar.

He had broached this idea of a clean conservancy area. Since most lanes had turned into dumping sites and become breeding ground for mosquitoes, weeds, rodents and snakes, thought it was necessary to clean up the mess for a healthy environment.

“The conservancy lane was supposed to be a clean area, but residents threw garbage and pollute the area. We extracted 14 tractor loads of polythene and waste soil from the small conservancy plot near our lane, which is only a 4,500-square feet area. With an investment of Rs 70,000, the area now looks beautiful,’’ she said.

Swaroop Kumar Mohapatra, a businessman, who lives in the in the locality where the experimental project was carried out, said: “There are 73 conservancy lanes in Shahid Nagar. If all the residents take a pledge, then they can easily clean the entire locality on their own.”

Advocate Bikash Chand said: “The park on the conservancy lane has become a playground for children. Since the place is away from the main road, it is safe and the guardians, too, can keep an eye on the kids.”

In 2009-10, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation invested around Rs 20 lakh to clean 52 conservancy lanes in Saheed Nagar. “If we take the initiative to keep the area clean throughout the year, then a lot of money can be saved. And that can be used for other development work,” Umanath said.

To keep the lane clean, small dustbins have also been installed in the park.

“We have invited the city health officer to see our project, which was unveiled by the residents last week. We will also invite the municipal commissioner and environment officer of BMC to see the transformation of the polluted stretch,” said Saswati.