UP govt launches mega cleanliness drive

Lucknow, Dec 1 (Representative) Urban Development Minister of Uttar Pradesh AK Sharma on Thursday launched a massive cleanliness campaign under the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission Urban’ throughout the state covering 750 civic bodies in 75 districts for 75 hours. The Minister launched the campaign ‘Pratibadh 75 districts, 75 hours, 750 civic bodies’ from Maharana Pratap crossing in Hussainganj area in the state capital. The campaign aims to make UP Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs) free. While launching the campaign, Sharma appealed to the citizens not to throw away waste from the house, shops and establishments here and there, instead segregate the garbage and provide it to the local bodies so that it could be put to good use. “We have to make ‘Our UP, Golden UP,” he said. An official spokesman said that under the sanitation campaign, there is a plan to convert GVPs and the sensitive sites in terms of garbage collection in about 750 civic bodies of the state into clean places.

“In order to speed up this campaign, instructions have been issued by the Swachh Bharat Mission under Local Body Directorate to all the Municipal Commissioners through a letter to fulfill the objective by undertaking the campaign within the time limit. These places will also be beautified after cleaning with many to be developed as selfie points,” he said. The spokesman said that the letter titled ‘Pratibadh 75 districts, 75 hours, 750 civic bodies’ gives out all the guidelines related to the campaign. “To mark the last month as India celebrates 75 years of independence, the campaign is being started from Thursday by the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban,” he said. He said that the campaign also aims at creating awareness about cleanliness among people. “For this, necessary resources and work will have to be ensured by identifying the garbage vulnerable points.

The officials have also been instructed to ensure that the closing ceremony of the campaign is organized under the guidance and chairmanship of the District Magistrates,” he said. Under the campaign, all the urban bodies are expected to re-mark all the GVPs in their respective areas. From December 1 to December 3, such sites will be eliminated permanently. The garbage received from the eliminated Garbage Vulnerable Points will be segregated as wet and dry waste, which will further be disposed and treated. The officials have also been instructed to maintain a record of the collections such as plastic, bottle and glass wastes after its assessment. After the campaign, high-quality and geo-tagged photos of GVPs (before and after elimination) will be made available by the civic bodies on the email of State Mission Directorate, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

The government has also directed officials to ensure videography of the activities undertaken under the ‘Pratibadh 75 Districts, 75 Hours, 750 Bodies’ campaign. The District Coordinator and District Programme Manager working at the district level will play an important role in the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban along with the officers or officials of the cleanliness cadre for editing the campaign. The public will be made aware through community participation. All the GVPs will also be beautified and turned into either selfie points with space for senior citizens, or the place will be allotted to street vendors. The best performing bodies in the Pratibadh 75 Districts 75 Hours 750 Bodies campaign will be rewarded at the state level under 5 sub-categories based on population in 3 main categories namely Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat. The winning bodies in each category will be presented as models for others.