Lights, camera, VIPs pick up brooms

NEW DELHI, MARCH 4: The city's top brass took to the roads today with brooms in their hands. But only after it had been adequately and ev...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 4: The city8217;s top brass took to the roads today with brooms in their hands. But only after it had been adequately and evenly littered by the municipality8217;s safai karamcharis, who came armed with a basketful of garbage for the occasion.

Between the clicking of cameras, the clapping of the audience and safai karamcharis relaxing on a sofa, the Lieutenant Governor, the Chief Minister, the Municipal Commissioner and the Mayor 8212; along with a host of enthusiastic councillors swept the city, well, at least a small part of it, clean.

The only person who seemed uncomfortable with the idea of a broom in her hand was Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who had to be cajoled into posing with a broom.

The month-long Sanitation-cum-Cleanliness drive, timed well in advance of the Visit India Year8217; which begins in April this year, was inaugurated by Lt Governor Vijai Kapoor amidst much fanfare at Humayun Tomb in Nizamuddin this morning.

Even though everyone made the right noises about how the drive should be a year-long affair, it was clear that the emphasis was on sprucing up the city for tourists, expected to arrive from April onwards.

Appreciating the timing of the drive, the Lt Governor said that since it had been scheduled before the beginning of summer and much ahead of the monsoons, it would help in controlling the spread of diseases. He also urged residents to join in the drive.

Speaking on the occasion, Dikshit said Home Minister L.K. Advani had asked that special attention be paid to cleaning up the city.

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She announced that the Delhi government had instituted two trophies 8212; the Lt Governor8217;s Trophy and the Chief Minister8217;s Trophy to encourage healthy competition8217;. One will be given to the best maintained zone, the other to the best-maintained area in Delhi, by a committee comprising NGOs, Resident Welfare Associations and officials of the Central Pollution Control Board.

Listing out the programme, Municipal Commissioner V.K. Duggal said that all the departments of the MCD 8212; Health, Engineering, Sanitation, Horticulture, Works, Education will make a composite effort during the drive. He said that for the first time, dumpers will be placed in congested localities for garbage collection. He added that the MCD would from now onwards use a mechanised system for deep sewage cleaning, which would reduce the risks faced by karamcharis.

The month-long drive will focus on removing accumulated refuse, sprucing up the Capital8217;s railway stations and the Inter-State Bus Terminus, cleaning of sewers and dustbins and strengthening of the door-to-door garbage collection network. Street lights, roads and footpaths will be repaired, schools will be cleaned up and a special action plan8217; to control vector-borne and water-borne diseases will be carried out.