To mark the 125th anniversary of B R Ambedkar, district magistrate of Haridwar waved off a “Swachta rath” on Thursday morning from his Mayapur camp office. The chariot is tagged as “Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Rath” (from rise of villages to rise of India).
To inculcate the spirit of cleanliness amongst villagers and check the menace of open defecation, a felicitating amount of `12,000 will be given to the villagers who would initiate construction of toilet.
This message chariot would reach Haridwar from laksar road crossing Raisi village, Khanpur and return via Subhashgarh Aikkar Kalan, and Jamalpur, Sitapur and finally to Jwalapur. On Friday, the chariot would leave Haridwar to Roorkee and it will halt at Bahadrabad, landhaura, Manglaur, Narsen, Tikanta, lakhnauta, Jhabreda villages. Speaking to The Pioneer, district magistrate Harbans Singh Chugh said, “The aim of this Swachta rath is to bring the importance of cleanliness in the minds of the people.” He said this chariot would be visiting all houses, schools and Anganwadi kendras.
Chugh informed that through this rath, common people would be appealed to construct toilets in their homes, install water tank to feed the toilet and wash basins.
A felicitating amount (Protsahan rashi) of `12,000 will be given to the villagers who would initiate construction of toilet. “After installing the toilet, the villager would register name with Gram Pradhan and Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari,” added the DM.
Message of basic cleanliness habits like keeping the drinking water covered, chlorination of drinking water and testing of water samples from time to time is being disseminated through this awareness chariot.