Prakasam Street: how it shrugged off squalor

Located diametrically opposite Prakasam First Street, this patch on Prakasam Street would attract those who wanted to offload construction debris clandestinely. Now it has seen a transformation

You cannot miss that spot in Prakasam Street in T Nagar. It has a massive CMWSSB water tank filling up the sky in the background. Around a year ago, there was another reason this spot could not be missed. Garbage dumping more outside the bins than inside them.

Located diametrically opposite Prakasam First Street, this patch on Prakasam Street would attract those who wanted to offload construction debris clandestinely.

The spot now presents a picture that contrasts sharply with what prevailed. A garden with fencing marks the space along the compound wall of the CMWSSB water filling facility. There is literally no room for garbage dumping. Sporting paintings, the compound wall also offers something to take in.

The five bins have also been shifted out of that patch. In addition, outside the compound wall (which lines a good part of Prakasam Street), vehicles, many of them heavy vehicles would be parked. The fenced garden has put an end to that. The images were taken on May 9, 2025. Earlier, through pictures of the spot taken on December 29, 2023, The Hindu Downtown had highlighted the squalor that marked the patch.

Back then, the patch was seen through the framework of the Broken Window Theory: how .a seeming lack of iniative to check garbage dumping outside the five bins placed there then was encouraging the behavior.

In ‘Then and Now’ we feature roads that have fallen from grace as well as those that have improved considerably