The Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath has picked up a broom in Lucknow today, after the city was declared as the dirtiest in the recent Swachh Bharat survey.
The Minister decided to take up the matter in his own hands, literally. He conveyed his seriousness in making the city clean, a day after he expressed his regret over the State’s poor rating in the cleanliness survey. The Chief Minister armed with a broom, and headed to a congested street of Lucknow, the Baloo Adda locality, in the heart of the city in Ram Mohan ward. He swept the streets along with his Ministers. Ministerial colleague Suresh Khanna and other officials, accompanied the CM at 7 in the morning. They were accompanied by 50 municipal workers even in this initiative.
Yogi Adityanath chose today, a holiday for most, to kick-start the cleanliness drive in the State and to encourage the citizens to participate in the PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan and keep their cities clean. Only one city of the state, Varanasi had figured in the list of the 100 clean cities in the government’s “Swachh Survekshan 2017”. Gonda in UP has been ranked as the dirtiest city.
The UP CM in a press conference yesterday, said “Although this survey was taken up before we took over, our government has decided to work in this area and by December 2017 we aim to declare 30 districts and by October 2018 the entire state open defecation-free.” The 44-year-old chief minister administered a pledge of cleanliness to officials and asked them to clean up their neighborhoods and commit 100 hours every year to the cause.
Besides sweeping the street, the UP CM also inspected a “sulabh shauchalaya” in the area and interacted with the locals to check the ground reality. Instructions to the municipal staff were further given by him to maintain cleanliness and said it was among the top priorities of the government. Poonam and Dinesh, who have been running a Sulabh Shauchalaya or a community toilet in the locality for three decades, were happy to meet their chief minister. “He is doing a good job. His gesture will surely inspire others,” said Poonam.
But others like a 26-year-old contractual municipal employee, Kamal however did not seem convinced. He said, “The chief minister will do it for one day and go. People will forget about it. People need to be educated about the importance of maintaining hygiene. Every day I sweep the road and within minutes people start littering, spitting here. How does one change their mindset?”
Yogi Adityanath said to the municipal department officials, that, “Why is the state capital so dirty? 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 onset of monsoon to clean the drains so that they do not overflow on the streets... All wards should be given clear instructions on cleanliness...people should be made aware of not littering on the roads and the use of dustbins.”
SUPRAJA
