Swachh Bharat drive
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is finding resonance among people and it
was witnessed probably for the first time in a religious procession. When a
procession on the occasion of Gurpurab was taken out in Chandni Chowk, people,
especially the young men and women, started cleaning the littered roads.
Every year a lot of devotees from Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Chandni Chowk to Gurdwara Nank Piao near Rana Pratap Bagh go distributing food items, fruits, sweets as prasad along the way. Usually, the entire route is littered with paper plates and cups which are cleaned the next morning by the sanitation staff.
"It is for the first time that such a thing is witnessed in the past five decades. A group of 50 young boys and girls cleaned the entire area and carried the waste in mini-trucks moving along with the procession.
Every year a lot of devotees from Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Chandni Chowk to Gurdwara Nank Piao near Rana Pratap Bagh go distributing food items, fruits, sweets as prasad along the way. Usually, the entire route is littered with paper plates and cups which are cleaned the next morning by the sanitation staff.
"It is for the first time that such a thing is witnessed in the past five decades. A group of 50 young boys and girls cleaned the entire area and carried the waste in mini-trucks moving along with the procession.
The group
also cleaned pavements and picked up garbage lying unattended. The stretch was
spic and span after the procession was over," said Sanjay Bhargava,
general secretary, Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal.
Impressed by such efforts, people in Chandni Chowk have suggested that North Corporation make it a norm. "Religious processions, immersion in Yamuna and bhandaras and langar in public places ruin the area. This initiative should be welcomed and made mandatory," said Bhargava.
A similar proposal was mooted by the municipal commissioner in 2013 in the form of sanitation cess, by penalizing people who litter after holding religious functions in public areas. "But the proposal was rejected. It is good if people are becoming aware and taking initiatives on their own," said a senior North Corporation official.
When asked, some members in the procession said it is not just seva for them but an effort to keep Delhi clean. "In our religion we have seva. It's better to clean the streets that we litter. In other countries too people clean the area after events," said Gurmeet Kaur, who was sweeping the road
Impressed by such efforts, people in Chandni Chowk have suggested that North Corporation make it a norm. "Religious processions, immersion in Yamuna and bhandaras and langar in public places ruin the area. This initiative should be welcomed and made mandatory," said Bhargava.
A similar proposal was mooted by the municipal commissioner in 2013 in the form of sanitation cess, by penalizing people who litter after holding religious functions in public areas. "But the proposal was rejected. It is good if people are becoming aware and taking initiatives on their own," said a senior North Corporation official.
When asked, some members in the procession said it is not just seva for them but an effort to keep Delhi clean. "In our religion we have seva. It's better to clean the streets that we litter. In other countries too people clean the area after events," said Gurmeet Kaur, who was sweeping the road
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Please comment and suggest how people who prefer open fields for defecation be persuaded to build and utilize latrines.