C R Balaji, 50, takes up civic issues in Chennai

 
While most of us crib about the inefficiency of the civic body when we see a flickering streetlight or an overflowing garbage dump, C R Balaji brings it to the notice of the relevant authorities, with photographic proof to boot. “Unlike the olden days, we don’t have to run to government offices anymore; complaints can be registered online in a jiffy,” says the 50 year-old Chennai resident, recalling how he used to accompany his grandfather to municipal offices to register complaints in his childhood. “Now it’s easy to track the status of the complaints as well.” A 2016 workshop titled ‘Stand Up for Your Rights’, conducted by Arappor Iyakkam, a local NGO, revived Balaji’s interest in civic issues. He joined the organisation, actively participating in various civic drives, besides personally auditing Chennai’s lakes including Poondi, Puzhal, Ambattur and Retteri among others, and raising requests, RTIs and complaints. In the past two years alone, he has raised about 400 complaints on various issues ranging from garbage disposal and water leaks to desilting lakes. “The important thing is to follow up,” he avers, recalling how it took four months of relentless pursuit to get civic authorities to clear debris from Mandaveli railway station in 2016. With a demanding job as a senior executive in a public limited company, Balaji manages to squeeze in time for his civic work in the mornings or during the weekends. In his pursuit of justice, he leaves no stone unturned, sometimes even writing to the chief minister’s office, as he did when complaints to the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Deputy Commissioner of Health to get hyacinth removed from a water body in the city’s southern suburbs didn’t evoke any response. His mail to the CM worked; the waterway was promptly cleaned. “People like Balaji can make any government work for the public good,” observes Subathra Devi, a volunteer with Arappor Iyakkam. “We definitely need more heroes like him.”

—Catherine Gilon

Photo: Mallika Rajkumar
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
May 2018