Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Even as nearly 8500 sanitation workers will be on holiday on the occasion of Goga Navami on Monday, residents of the cleanest city in the country will fill in for them and clean the city for a day ensuing that cleanliness standards remain intact.
To honour sanitation workers, Indore Municipal Corporation will launch a city-wide community cleanliness campaign titled ‘Hum Bhi Swachhagrahi’ on August 18.
The initiative aims to ensure uninterrupted cleanliness in the city while sanitation staff observe a holiday for the festival. Cabinet ministers Kailash Vijayvargiya and Tulsi Silawat, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav and public representatives along with municipal commissioner Shivam Verma will flag off the campaign on Monday morning at 7:30 am from Rajwada.
The Goga Navami festival was celebrated by the Valmiki community on Sunday. The following day, cleanliness workers take an en-masse day off and citizens fill in for them.
The campaign will be carried out across all wards and zones of Indore, with active participation from local residents, corporators, civic officials and social organisations. Sufficient resources for sanitation have already been directed to be made available by the corporation. Bhargav and Verma appealed to residents to come forward in solidarity with the sanitation workers.
‘Our Safai Mitras work tirelessly throughout the year, braving all weather conditions to keep Indore clean. On the day they rest, it is our responsibility as citizens to step onto the field and keep our city shining,’ they said in a joint statement. With the active involvement of citizens, public representatives, NGOs and institutions, IMC aims to transform the Goga Navami holiday into a celebration of cleanliness and community responsibility.
Broad support from institutions
The mega cleanliness drive will see participation from a wide range of organisations, including residents’ associations, religious and social groups, banking institutions (ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, UCO Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank), market associations, Lions Club, NSS, NCC, BSF’s 15th Battalion and several volunteer teams such as Team Basics, Team Divine, Team HMS and Team FFCT.
