Hyderabad: Yadamma has been sweeping near the premises of Charminar for 14 months now. Titled ‘sanitation worker’, her job is to clean the entire stretch from Gulzar Houz until Charminar. “Even during the lockdown, we kept the Charminar clear,” she beams. For her, the only satisfaction is that people visiting the historic site return with a smile.
Yadamma is one of the hundreds of the workers who are responsible to keep the Charminar premises clean. Ixora FM group, a city-based startup, in collaboration with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has taken up mission ‘Hamara Charminar – Swachh Charminar’ to keep the area of the historic structure neat and clean.
Each night, the workers appointed under this initiative, clean Charminar, Makkah Masjid, Chowmahala Palace road, Salar Jung museum road, Laad Bazar road, Nayapul road, and Gulzar Houz and areas alike. Their job entails sweeping trash and empty recycle bins and continues even in chilly nights during winters.
They have also been honored and felicitated by the startup for their tireless efforts to keep Charminar clean amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mohammed Omer, a sanitation supervisor of Ixora FM, said, “I had lost my job due to lockdown but luckily I had experience in hotel management, I came across this startup and applied for the job.” Omer supervises the cleaning works of the granite cobble (tiles) which were laid around the monument as part of the Charminar Pedestrian Project (CPP).
“Thousands of people daily visit Charminar and tonnes of trash piles up here but we come at work around 12:00 am every day, ensure that the visitors who come the next day can see the clean and green Charminar,” Omer added.
Manish Singh, another supervisor, feels that citizens must take the responsibility to keep the ‘Purana Shehar’ (Old City) clean, at least the historic places. “We had been working at the Charminar for over three years. After finishing the cleaning work, we try to create awareness with the shops in the precinct to keep the city clean. Some shop owners came forward appreciated our cleaning work with felicitation, and also contributed by not littering the place with plastic cover or other trash,” he said.
Krishna Chaitanya one of the directors of Ixora FM told “We use high-end sweepers and scrubbers to clean the flooring and single desk machines are used with high-quality chemicals to ensure the granite can shine.”
He further told that the idea is to offer employment to the youth and women in a variety of cleaning drives at multiple places across the old city. “We train the sanitation workers to use the machines and to perform the quality cleaning works at the Charminar,” he added.
