Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that Swachh Bharat Mission had become a national movement and it could become the basis of fundamental change in the country.
Yogi said that all stakeholders would have to come forward and perform their roles in effective manner for the success of the sanitation programme.
On Tuesday, the Chief Minister distributed awards to urban local bodies that were declared winner in the Swachh Ward Competition organised by Urban Development department from November 15 to December 15.
The awards were distributed to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In the nagar nigam category, ward number 44 (Katra Fulela) of Agra Nagar Nigam and ward Gajraula in the nagar palika parishad category were declared the cleanest in the state.
In the nagar panchayat category, Swami Bagh Nagar Panchayat of Agra was also awarded.
District magistrates of Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Farrukhabad, Jhansi and Shahjahanpur were also awarded for making strenuous efforts for maintaining sanitation in their respective districts.
“The landscape of urban UP will undergo a sea change if problems like sanitation, solid waste management and disposal, clean drinking water, drainage system are fixed. Mayors of cities and chairpersons of municipal bodies should tour their respective towns for an hour every day and monitor public amenities,” the Chief Minister said.
Exhorting the people to make sanitation an integral part of their daily lives, Yogi said, “Even birds and animal hate poor sanitation and hence human beings too should not ignore sanitation. Insanitation and filth leads to disease taking huge toll on human lives every year,” Yogi said.
Referring to vector-borne and contagious diseases in Gorakhpur and neighbouring districts of eastern UP, the Chief Minister said, “Sanitation campaign, availability of clean drinking water and immunisation campaign have played an effective role in curbing the menace of epidemics. Efforts of the state government for ensuring sanitation in these districts have resulted in sharp drop in the number of yearly causalities.”
In his address, Urban Development Minister Suresh Khanna said that a sanitation survey would be conducted across the state from January 4 to 31.
He said in Swachh Ward Competition, 44 urban local bodies were awarded, and they included 12 nagar nigams, 18 nagar palika parishads and 14 nagar panchayats.