Soon ten iconic places-internationally known for their heritage, spiritual and cultural values-in the country, including Taj Mahal, Vaishno Devi temple, Golden Temple and Ajmer Sharif will be spruced up on par with global standards.
The Modi Government plans to launch a cleanliness drive at these iconic places, as part of a pilot project under its flagship scheme, Swachchh Bharat Mission.
Union Minister for Rural Development and Water and Sanitation Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said his Ministry is in the process of selecting 100 iconic places for cleaning under the mission and most will be either tourist or religious spots, with most of them witnessing heavy footfalls from domestic as well as abroad.
“As part of Swachchh Bharat Mission, the Ministry has identified 10 such iconic places to start cleanliness drive as part of the pilot project under this mission,” h said.
The places which have been selected are Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu & Kashmir, Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, Golden Temple in Punjab, Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, Jagannath Temple in Odisha, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Maharashtra, Manikarnika Ghat in Uttar Pradesh, Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu and Kamakhya Temple in Assam.
Once this pilot project, to be called as phase I, is completed, the Government will carry out a similar cleanliness drive at the remaining 90 places, Tomar said.
The aim of this initiative is to make these 100 places model 'Swachh Tourist Destinations’, that will enhance the experience for visitors from India and abroad.
Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer said the ministry is taking help of experts from World Bank to make this project successful.
“We are evaluating various models and practices which have been followed in various countries for cleaning and sanitising and trying to find out out which are relevant can be adapted here,” Iyer said.
The Secretary also said the ministry has approached various corporate groups for financing the drive at these iconic places.