A local group of students will paint a mural on the boundary wall of the Parade Ground as a mark of homage to the soldiers martyred in the terrorist attack in Pulwama. The students of Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) stated that they started painting wall murals three months ago along with school students to highlight the popular food or places of the city.

This also was done with an aim to create awareness among the people regarding proper cleanliness and sanitation.

Speaking on the activity, one of the founders of the group Abhijay Negi said, “We will be giving a tribute to our martyred soldiers who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack. We along with the members of the group will be drawing a mural in the outer wall of the Parade Ground. This will be likely to get complete within a week.”

Adding further he said, “This campaign was started three months ago by us to basically highlight the popular places and other specialities of the city. We included students in this so that awareness could be generated among the public. Around eight walls near the Parade Ground have been painted by us. However, it is very sad that people don’t really care about cleanliness as we see people spitting and urinating in public places. It is very important that people first start the change with themselves so that bigger changes can be achieved.”

The group has been very active in raising awareness on saving and reviving Rispana and Bindal rivers in Dehradun. When asked about the status of the rivers, Negi said, “We have been working very actively to save both the seasonal rivers, for which we have talked to the officials and have also invited them in our awareness programmes so many times.

We have given letters to the officials stating the current condition of the rivers along with suggestions but nothing has been done so far. We have finally decided to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court soon regarding the matter.”