Urban Development Minister AK Sharma has asked officials of all the urban bodies to carry out a cleanliness drive post-Diwali and also to make arrangements for the upcoming Chhath festival with a focus on fogging with anti-larva chemicals.
In a virtual review meeting held here on Thursday, the minister directed officials to carry out spraying and fogging of anti-larva chemicals for the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases, dengue, chikungunya and other communicable diseases.
“The works should be done on a war footing. Besides, fill up the potholes in the roads and ensure street lights. After Diwali complaints have been received from some places regarding cleanliness, for which instructions have been given to take serious action,” the minister said and added that the government would not tolerate negligence in this regard.
He even suggested that a door-to-door garbage collection drive be carried out as during Diwali people clean their houses and shops and a large amount of garbage is collected which people throw outside their homes. The nagar nigams should ensure proper disposal of the garbage, he said.
The minister said that air pollution also increases significantly during this time in cities, and efforts should be made to reduce it and for this, water should be sprinkled in the streets.
Sharma said that special attention should be paid to cleanliness during the upcoming Chhath festival. He said proper sanitation and cleanliness should be ensured, especially at places of worship and ghats. “As large number of women and children participate in this religious festival, elaborate security arrangements should be made in coordination with the local police,” he added.
He said proper arrangement of lighting should be made and barricading should also be done in the river to prevent devotees and children from going into deep water.
“To prevent people from immersing flowers, garlands, fruits and other materials in rivers, proper places should be earmarked where devotees may immerse them. This will prevent pollution of the river,” the minister said.
Along with this, instructions were also given to make arrangements for installation of mobile toilets at places of worship and for 24-hour continuous cleaning of community toilets.
The urban development minister said that reports of rising cases of dengue were coming from Prayagraj, Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Bareilly and many other cities. He said that wherever water-logging was reported due to rains, fogging should be done there.
Sharma also directed officials to pay special attention to cleanliness at religious places, especially Naimisharanya, Chitrakoot, Maa Vindhyavasini, Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Mathura.