Govt to launch annual sanitation drive from Sep 17, with focus on legacy landfills

Speaking at a press conference, along with Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil, the HUA Minister said the 15-day period will start from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday and include the birth anniversaries of three “mahapurush” – Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri on October 2 and Deendayal Upadhyay on September 25.

He urged individuals to “adopt” areas and work towards their cleanliness. He said he had “adopted” the Bhalswa landfill in Delhi and would visit the site on September 17 to review plans for waste processing and remediation. “Starting from that day, we will initiate the cleanup process. Given the space constraints for further waste processing at the site, I have also requested the DDA to assist us in securing additional land.”

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, the target is to clear all legacy landfills in the country by 2026. The minister said the aim was to clear Bhalswa in a year and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was working on the other sites as well. He said cleanliness was not only the government’s responsibility, but required everyone to contribute. Giving the example of the Railways and the Metro, he said people don’t litter in areas that are clean. “A person who eats paan will not spit in the Metro, but on the railways, he feels free to. Why? Because others have spat there before.”

Patil urged citizens to volunteer for cleanliness on September 25. He said a Rs 15 crore fund had been donated by the public for the welfare of sanitation workers and their families in Surat and Navsari. The minister also inaugurated the Sarpanch Samvaad National Quality Conclave on Monday. The conclave brought together 75 sarpanchs from 22 states for discussions on localised sustainable development goals. As of now, 60,000 sarpanchs had been brought on board the mobile app Sarpanch Samvaad and the Minister said the goal was to bring all 2.5 lakh sarpanchs on the platform.