Hyderabad: In the past few years, Osmania University has not just witnessed rejuvenation of its forestry, but also an innovative way to spread the message of protecting the environment, constitution, nation and more by using ‘rocks’ as the medium to communicate.
A walk inside the iconic Landscape Gardens, Dr BR Ambedkar Library, Centre for Exploration Geophysics, or even in front of the Osmania University police station reveals rocks being used to spread these messages.
Islavath Venkat, a librarian working in a contractual position since 2013, has made it his passion to paint the rocks and trees inside the OU campus with beautiful images. His art has brought life into the rocks, which would have otherwise been ignored as examples of non-living things.
Beautiful images of trees, animals and humans with messages like ‘save trees,’ ‘save nature,’ ‘save wildlife,’ and ‘conserve water’ are very common in his paintings.
Pictures of freedom fighters, the constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar, APJ Abdul Kalam and others have been painted on the rocks at various places.
With a Rs 18,000 salary per month as a contract employee after 12 years of experience, Venkat has been managing the expenditure for the paints from his salary, and certain donations from the morning walkers impressed by his work.
“I wanted to prove that even rocks have something to say,” he tells Siasat.com, recalling his first painting on a bird-shaped rock located opposite to OU police station, which he painted as a bird.
Coming from Gudur mandal in Mahabubabad district, his love for nature was naturally inspired by the forests where he grew up living in.
Having pursued most of his education till he graduated in Mahabubabad, he pursued a master’s in library science from Osmania University.
Having witnessed the striking contrast between the rural and urban ecology, and the dichotomy between a well-protected environment in campuses like OU and the polluted city, he decided to do his bit to protect nature by spreading his message.
He particularly blames vehicular pollution as a serious problem for the dwellers.
“The traffic police personnel take pictures of those not wearing helmets and for minor parking and other violations, but don’t take any action against the autos and trucks releasing heavy smoke into the air. Most of the GHMC’s trucks carrying garbage heavily pollute the air,” he observes.
Another concerning issue he raises is the problem of solid waste generated on the campus, which is not being managed well.
As he knows that there is little he can do to solve the matter, which is beyond his control, he tried his bit by making a huge waste bin made out of plastic bottles, and placed it inside the Landscape Garden. The result was that morning walkers began using the bin.
Venkat also conducts cleaning drives inside the campus to spread awareness on the need to keep the surroundings clean.
Venkat has received an honorary doctorate for his work from a university in Haryana and an award in recognition of his art and effort.
While there are efforts of people like Venkat, who are hoping that their efforts may yield at least some results in the long run, inside the very campus, solid waste continues to burn indiscriminately.
Waste continues to burn inside OU campus
The administration blames the outsiders for the garbage dump, and rag-pickers for burning it.
The allegation, which is partly true, is an excuse to shrug off the responsibility from the shoulders of the administration.
Last week, when Siasat.com confronted a rag-picker who had come with GHMC’s garbage collection vehicle to take what could be used for recycling, he said that most of the waste was being generated from the hostels inside the campus.
When asked whether his livelihood would be affected if the university decided not to dump the waste there, he said that it wouldn’t affect him, as it was just one of the several locations which he, along with his family, covered every day, looking for recyclable waste to be sold in scrap shops.
