In the last two years, her son and husband suffered from malaria five times due to the unclean house gully. But now, thanks to the sustained efforts of three activists, the gully that had garbage piled up to almost five feet, is now clean.
The gully at the rear of the buildings from 124-152 Modi Street to 165-209 Bazaar Street, the longest house gully in the area covering 24 buildings (over 100 feet), is only a trailer of the sufferings of the residents in the neighbourhood.
Theresa Pinto, who spear-headed the change, along with two other colleagues, Veena Shetty and Aarif Khan, now plan to take their efforts to a higher level.
Come Saturday and, in the presence of senior BMC officials, the Fort Area Citizens Forum (FACF) will take up the task of cleaning the remaining house gullies on the street, before heading to clean all 450 in the area.
These house gullies are treated like dumping grounds. Residents keep throwing garbage which the BMC finds difficult to clear beyond a point. This had led to the piling up of garbage and sewage water from chambers weakening the foundations of the building, Veena said.
Around 15 trucks of garbage were removed from December 22 to January 1, informed Veena Shetty, praising the BMC for the commendable job. Now, the activists plan to put up pictures of the BMC workers informing people about them.
Sukumar Joshi, section officer of the area said, The job was not easy as the drains were overflowing. As many as 12 chamber covers were missing and there was no place to walk. One of our labours even got hurt during the drive.
Once this was achieved, we went door to door and requested residents not to throw garbage. We took their signatures and arranged for a sweeper to collect garbage from nine buildings, said Aarif Khan another activist.
Four dustbins have also been put up on Modi Street. On Bazaar Gate, residents hope to convince and work with shop owners to help them place dustbins on the footpaths.