Volunteers celebrate World Environment Day with museum clean-up event

Bengaluru: To mark World Environment Day, over 150 volunteers participated in a clean-up event at the Government Museum on Kasturba Road.

The museum’s front garden and fences are choking under overgrown weeds, with dead branches and waste littering the once lush grounds.

A ragtag of volunteers, including housekeeping staff from the Prestige Group, BBMP marshals, solid waste management personnel, officers of the State Archaeology Department, and members of India Rising Trust smartened up the museum’s surroundings.

Throughout the morning, the group revitalised the area by cleaning the front garden, sweeping away dried and dead branches, trimming and shaping the plants, and painting the fences and walls.

The BBMP’s auto-tippers collected nearly a tonne of waste, mainly plastic bags and bottles.

“Due to our focus on the renovation of the government museum, our garden maintenance fell short. So, such beautification work was very helpful,” said D Smitha, Director (Museums), State Archaeology Department.

“The volunteers also repotted nearly 20 plants and painted the shared compound of the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, in addition to trimming the trees and cleaning the area,” she said.

She added that the government museum’s renovation work is likely to be completed in another six months.

Arun Pai, coordinator at India Rising Trust and founder of Bangalore Walks, said people’s hands-on involvement is the best way to preserve heritage structures dating back to 1877.

“We have to find ways for the public to collaborate with the government. By connecting with our heritage through direct involvement, citizens can better understand and protect our monuments and structures. I hope this becomes a trend, with more citizens, volunteers, and corporations working together on projects like this,” he said. 

Volunteers paint the fence around the Government Museum on Kasturba Road. PIC: Arun Pai