Mumbai, 18 October 2021
A cleanliness drive was held at the Gateway of India in Mumbai today morning, where more than 50 volunteers participated to raise public awareness about keeping the environment clean and unpolluted and about discarding use of plastics. The programme organized by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) is a part of month-long nation-wide Clean India campaign launched by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 1st October, for collecting and removing garbage, mainly plastics. The drive has been taken up to mark Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav on the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.
At the beginning, a Swachhata pledge was administered by the Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Smt. Usha Sharma, to the volunteers, comprising NYKS and local youth who carried out the campaign in the areas surrounding Gateway of India at Colaba in the city.
Speaking to media persons about the significance of this initiative, Smt Sharma stated, Clean India campaign will cover 6 lakh villages across 744 districts. “We have set an ambitious target of collecting 75,000 kg of plastics. I am happy to state that more plastic wastes than the set target will be collected”, stated Smt. Sharma. She further noted, the results of the campaign have been encouraging so far. Lakhs of volunteers, including public representatives, NGOs, NCC and NYKS cadets, school students and others have participated in the nation-wide Clean India campaign. District officials have been highly cooperative in carrying out the Clean India campaign, she added.
Smt. Sharma further explained, if a single young person can sensitize a few people about keeping the environment clean, removing plastics and so on, then altogether, we will succeed in creating mass awareness about cleanliness. This will, in turn, ensure that people understand the importance of cleanliness and also the menace of using plastics. “It is essential that we reduce use of plastics to a large extent for the sake of our environment”, she added.
Tomorrow a similar drive led by NYKS and youth volunteers will be held at Juhu Beach, another iconic tourist spot of Mumbai at 9 A.M.
Swacchta Abhiyan was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during 2014 and since then, remarkable headway has been made in this regard. The Clean India Programme is continuation of initiative spearheaded by the Prime Minister with renewed focus and commitment. With the collective efforts of youth and fellow citizens and support from all stakeholders, better living conditions can be created for citizens. Notably, 30 Lakh Kilogram waste had been collected across nation through Clean India Drives in the first 10 days of the campaign.
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