Stressing on the need for citizens to start the sanitation campaign at the individual level, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the desired level of civic sanitation can be achieved only with proactive public participation.
The Chief Minister said this while participating in a drive to clean the Suswa river area in Dehradun on Sunday. The drive organised by U-Turn Foundation was also attended by the Dehradun Mayor and Dharmpur MlA Vinod Chamoli, students of government inter college Dudhli, police personnel and staff of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority, municipal corporation of Dehradun, district administration, local public representatives and a number of local residents.
Encouraging the students and local residents cleaning up the place since the morning, the chief minister said that one will need to start cleanliness campaign with oneself. If the residences, localities, streets, villages and cities remain clean the vision of Swachchh Bharat will become a reality. The chief minister said that a campaign was started at the municipal dumping ground at Sahastradhara Road in Dehradun. A special organic enzyme solution was sprinkled at the trenching ground which helped in considerably bringing down the stench in the area. The same was also sprinkled in the recent past in the Rispana and the Suswa rivers with success also being achieved in these instances. A concrete plan is being drafted for a clean Dehradun, added the chief minister.
According to the U-Turn Foundation, the Suswa river was once the pride of Dehradun and was a center of biodiversity. This river originates from the southern Shivalik range -- which separates the Doon Valley from Saharanpur and Haridwar districts-- and while collecting water from several small streams including perennial Rispana river, it flows west towards Doiwala. Then it passes through the jungles of Chilla and finally merges into the Ganga river near Raiwala. Dehradun city dwells between Bindal and Rispana rivers, after crossing the city these two rivers merge into the Suswa near Ramgarh along Rajaji national park. The non biodegradable waste and sewerage in the Bindal and Rispana rivers eventually flows into Suswa river.
The river's latest water analysis report by Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) has stated that the water of the river Suswa has become toxic and harmful for human life, wildlife and the ecology. The contaminated water is very harmful to soil, aquifers, human life, aquatic and other life. Apart from this, it is also a major threat to wild animals of Rajaji national park. Due to the highly contaminated water the cultivation and health of the people in the area near the river have also suffered noticeably.
The Mayor Vinod Chamoli welcomed the initiative of the chief minister and expressed the immediate need to address the major problem of river pollution. U Turn Foundation president Jaya Kumar said that the activity on Sunday was the first phase of the river front clean up work which would continue till May 14.
It is pertinent to mention here that with various public groups and citizens expressing concern at the degenerated state of the rivers in Dehradun valley, the authorities state to have started work towards the revival of the once clear rivers which have now been reduced to carriers of garbage and waste water.