A bit about CIJMA (Citizens Initiative for Jayamahal Area)
CIJMA, (Citizens Initiative for Jayamahal Area) a Residents Welfare Association took birth in 1993. It started as an initiative for door to door garbage collection. 8 rag pickers were employed and given trolleys to collect garbage from homes. An attempt was also made to compost the waste collected in the local park. This initiative was the first of its kind started in Bengaluru.
At present the core group consists of 6 ladies (Vatsala Srinivasan, Shameem Khan, Gauri Acharya, Radhika Swaminathan, Abhilasha and myself) CIJMA is a BBMP recognised RWA.
We have a WhatsApp group of more than 260 members (1 from each household) along with officials from BBMP, (Solid waste management and Engineering depts.) BESCOM, BWSSB, Street lights dept., BBMP forest, Horticulture dept., Traffic police, Law & Order police. We also interact with the area's MLA & MP to get various tasks done for the upkeep of Jayamahal Extension.
From just door to door collection of garbage, many tasks such as clearing black spots, cleaning of the park & water body, upkeep of the play ground, planting trees, getting foot paths paved, roads repaired, installation of CCTVs, construction of public toilet, addressing water, electricity, traffic, law & order issues were added to the list. During the pandemic we helped with ordering groceries, medical help & arranged for vaccinations in the area.
