Minister leads cleanliness drive in Dharwad

District in-charge Minister Santosh Lad led a cleanliness drive in Dharwad on Sunday, along with a team of officials.

As part of the My City, Clean City campaign, officials visited 16 streets of seven wards and took up the task of cleaning, sorting and transporting garbage.

Nearly 2,000 people attended the event. The Minister urged residents to join hands with the city corporation and the district administration in keeping the city clean and green.

A similar drive was conducted in Hubballi a few days ago.

Mr. Lad joined the pourakarmikas and other officials in cleaning the streets and sorting and loading garbage onto trucks.

During the campaign, Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu G.R.J., Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Bhuvanesh Patil, Superintendent of Police Gopal Byakod, Municipal Commissioner Rudresh Ghali and other district-level senior officials participated along with their department and office staff.

They joined hands in the Minister’s dream of having a clean city and removed garbage and sewage waste under the campaign.

Addressing the public and students who joined him on Mahishi Road, the Minister said that no government agency, including the city corporation, can work without the complete and meaningful cooperation of the public.

“This can happen only when every citizen feels proud that this is our city, our road and my house, will it be possible to have a clean city. We should work in such a manner that our children feel proud,” he said.

He said that the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation will initiate such campaigns every week. “We need to instill civic sense among the citizens of the twin cities. Everyone should keep their house and the area around their house clean. They should also take care of the small stretch of road and the trees in front of their house,” he said.

The campaign team visited the Railway Station and areas like Malamaddi, Vanavasi Ram Mandir, Gabbur Road, Ramanagara Hospital, Malapur Last Bus Stand, Shivaji Circle, Hebballi Agasi, Charantimath Garden, Hosayllapura Road, Paul Canteen, Sarasganga School and Jannatnagar.

Residents of these areas also joined the effort. They collected waste with shovels, filled the baskets and put the garbage in the garbage tractor themselves. They collected garbage from garbage cans to shift it to the trucks.

Mr. Lad requested the people not to throw non-segregated waste and rotten material in one heap. Vegetable vendors should not throw rotten vegetable into drains and in open spaces, he added.

Mr. Lad got into a drain and helped workers clean it. Seeing him, other officers also joined the effort. An earthmover was brought to clear a pile of mud on the footpath. The Minister instructed officials to check the manhole covers above and below the road, empty sites filled with garbage and take immediate action against those responsible.

From the front of Ramanagara Hospital to the last bus stop road of Malapur, government officials from various departments and college students cleaned the roads.

Students carried placards and raised slogans like ‘‘Our Dharwad is clean, let’s protect it, let’s protect it, let’s protect it, let’s protect it”. They also created awareness by singing songs and staging street plays.

Mayor Ramappa Badiger, Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu G.R.J., Superintendent of Police Gopal Byakod, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Bhuvanesh Patil, Probationary Officer Ritika Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mahaning Nandagave, Assistant Commissioner S. Hussein, officers and others were present.