Within 24-hours of his announcement that he would contribute to motivate people for ‘Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan’ (Cleanliness Drive), Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath wielded a broom with his ministerial colleagues to lead a cleanliness drive at Balu Adda Malin Basti on Saturday morning.
On Friday, Yogi had expressed regret over the State’s poor rating in cleanliness survey and announced that he would visit several places in the State to launch ‘Swachchhata Abhiyan’. In this effort, Urban Development Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna joined him in lucknow. Yogi is expected to visit Agra to spread awareness about cleanliness on Sunday.
During his visit to Balu Adda, the CM interacted with locals and asked them to keep their surroundings clean. “You should keep your surroundings clean and make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachchh Bharat Mission a success,” he said.
Besides sweeping the street, the CM also inspected a public lavatory (sulabh shauchalaya) in the area and interacted with the locals to check the ground reality. He also instructed lucknow Municipal Corporation (lMC) staff present there to maintain cleanliness and said it was among the top priorities of his Government.
“Why is lucknow so dirtyIJ It is a matter of concern as to why lucknow does not figure in the list of 100 clean cities. Make all preparations before the monsoons to clean drains so that they do not overflow onto the streets. All wards be given clear instructions on cleanliness. People should be made aware on not littering the roads and use of dustbins,” he told the lMC officials.
Due to the presence of the CM and his Ministers, the locals living near the Gomti river too joined the cleanliness drive. The State Government has already promised to make the State ‘open defecation-free’ (ODF) by 2018. The CM also directed officials to ensure that polythene was banned and that the municipal corporations ensured that their wards were clean.
Urban Development Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna told reporters that the move would create awareness among the people.
Urban Development Ministry on Thursday had announced the results of ‘Swachchh Survekshan’, which showed Indore in Madhya Pradesh as the cleanest city in the country and Gonda in UP as the dirtiest. PM Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi was ranked 32nd while lucknow was in the 269th spot.
In order to create a healthy competition between cities for improving cleanliness, the Ministry of Urban Development started ‘Swachchh Survekshan’ (cleanliness survey) ranking cities on cleanliness and other aspects of sanitation.
On Friday, during a joint press conference of CM Yogi Adityanath and Union Housing Minister Venkaiah Naidu, had expressed their commitment to make the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi a big success in UP.