Gurgaon: Kachra Chowk gets a much-needed makeover
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Gurgaon: Kachra Chowk gets a much-needed makeover

It's now been renamed to Khushboo Chowk, and with more than 500 fragrant shrubs planted recently, seems quite an apt name.

Gurgaon: Kachra Chowk gets a much-needed makeover

Gurgaon's Kachra Chowk has undergone a makeover. And it has a new name — Khushboo Chowk.

Kachra Chowk, located on the Faridabad road, was called so as a result of the heaps of garbage usually found lying in the area. More than a dozen families from the area, worried about both the smell and the threat of diseases spreading from the garbage dump, waited for months after meetings officials, lodging complaints to the police and even filing a case in a Haryana court.

Residents of the area, tired of inaction by the civic bodies, took things in their own hands. They roped in NGOs and cleaned up the area and planted 500 fragrant shrubs such as raat ki raani, jasmine, mogra and murraya and champa to eradictae the foul smell that had been pervading the area.

The residents of Valley View Apartments were also a part of the initiative as they are bore the brunt of the foul smell. “The site has been causing dust pollution in the area and since grass doesn’t grow properly, we planned to plant bushes in the area to reduce dust and smell,” said Shashi Arya, a resident of the society.

Uthaan, a Gurgaon-based NGO that works in fields such as vermiculture, organic cultivation, animal welfare, conservation of non-renewable fossil fuels and women uplift, also joined the mission. They, along with residents, donated and planted fragrant plants at the chowk. The residents have decided to plant 100 saplings on every family member’s birthday, to increase the green cover. The residents even planned to organise birthday parties on the very stretch in order to spread awareness about the initiative. They even have a Facebook page now.

In the past years, the site has been famous for a series of protests for civic causes staged by residents of city suburbs from Gurgaon. The protests stand out for their theatrical, yet non-partisan nature. The site got the name Kachra Chowk after the demonstration berating the civic authorities on 22 September 2008, in which cricketer Yuvraj Singh was also present.