Students clean Shalimar’s Balughat slum. Picture by Gopal Senapati

More than 30 primary students of an Urdu medium school run by a non-government organisation (NGO) hit the roads in the slums of Shalimar with brooms and buckets in hand. Most of the dwellers of Shalimar’s Balughat slum, are migrants from Bihar. They are predominantly rag pickers, day labourers, porters and rickshaw pullers. The slums here are covered with domestic garbage while a part is surrounded by factories.

“There is no vat in this area of Shalimar and the conservancy staff of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) never visit this area. So we decided to clean this area with the help of our students and local people,” said Sabitabrata Ghosh, project manager, Little Big Help that runs the Shalimar Urdu Pre- and Primary School. He said that a number of memorandums were submitted to the HMC mayor, requesting him to initiate a cleanliness drive in the area but he has never responded. “I hope the mayor will respond one day because a town like Howrah cannot be kept clean without cleaning the slums,” Ghosh said.

The whole area around the school is covered with garbage and hundreds of pigs roam in the garbage dump. “We teach our students to maintain health and hygiene. The cleanliness drive is part of this programme. Nearly 30 students of Class III and IV took part in the cleanliness drive after their school hours. Some local people also joined them,” said Mohammad Aftab, a teacher of the school. He said that the NGO has decided to involve more and more local people in the cleanliness drive. He also said that the area turned dirty because the slum dwellers had no toilets at their homes. Since the students are from the slum, they are equally interested in keeping their area clean. So they were very enthusiastic about the cleanliness drive. “Our teachers always advise us to maintain hygiene. We shall feel better if the garbage is removed from our area,” said Muskan Khatun, a Class IV student.

Kabita Santra, the councillor of ward 39, in which the Balughat slum falls, said that a vat could not be built in the area as it fell under the Railways but a few drums were placed instead for people to dump their garbage. However, she welcomed the cleanliness drive undertaken by the students.