Gurgaon’s Khushboo Chowk on Google Map

Google maps has recognized an area that used to be called Kachra Chowk, located on the Gurgaon-Faridabad road, as Khushboo Chowk.

Google maps has recognized an area that used to be called Kachra Chowk, located on the Gurgaon-Faridabad road, as Khushboo Chowk.

After the name was seen on Google map, the group members exchanged mails and messages and congratulated each other on their initiative. It was a cumulative effort by all the group members to bring about this change(HT Photo)

A group of residents and non-governmental organisations (NGO) is responsible for this transformation.

The group, Hara Bhara Gurgaon, in association with Utthan NGO, planted fragrant flowers like raat ki raani, jasmin, mogra and murraya to reduce the foul smell emanating from the dump and christened it Khushboo Chowk.

Residents also painted damaged tyres and decorated the area with flowers in them. These brightly coloured tyres do much to enhance the beauty of the area.

Their efforts found favour with Google map, where it now has a presence.

After the name was seen on Google map, the group members exchanged mails and messages and congratulated each other on their initiative. It was a cumulative effort by all the group members to bring about this change, they said.

“The reason why we chose to convert ‘kachra chowk’ to khushboo chowk was that the name itself was quite repulsive. DLF residents started calling it kachra chowk, to draw the attention of govt agencies who were using it as a garbage dump yard of garbage. Even google maps identified it with this name. So we decided to give the chowk a makeover by planting fragrant plants and beautifying it. We changed the name officially to khushboo chowk,” said Sanjay Kaushik, president, Uthaan NGO.

We decided that we would go in for the name change only after plantation and beautification work is done, he added.

“Abhilash, a Google official, guided us on how to carry out the request for name change. Moreover, he approved of this change as much as it was possible within his authority. And as we followed the procedure, google made changes to the google map” said Sameeja Satija, a member.

Residents said the initiative is another attempt to make the city look more vibrant.

Hara bhara Gurgaon comprises a group of citizens who are trying to make Gurgaon beautiful and green. They come up with new ideas to make this possible.

Rachin Sharma, who created a public forum on Facebook in July, called it HaraBhara Gurgaon. Soon, 231 people joined the page, where they discuss new and upcoming plans for the city’s development .

“I feel good, since most of the people these days identify places with Google maps. Now, commuters and residents can easily spot khushboo chowk on the map. Maybe they will get inspired once they notice this and come forward to modify other locations,” Sharma said.

“Our group in association with Utthan NGO converted the Kachra Chowk into Khushboo chowk by planting fragrant flowers. Later the beautification of this chowk was taken to another level, where we did some landscaping with unused and old tyres,” Satija said.

“I feel elated thrilled that Kachra Chowk has transformed into Khushboo Chowk. Now one can directly search it on Google maps by typing Khushboo Chowk, Gurgaon. It is also a sigh of relief that we could achieve what we had pledged to make over the chowk and then able to get the name changed,” Satija said.

Khushboo chowk can be accessed by logging onto the following URL:

http://bit.ly/2dtjz2P