The second quarterly review meeting on the Swachh Iconic Places (SIP), an initiative of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Mission, was held at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir.
Ten Swachh Iconic Places are already implementing action plans in phase 1.
On this occasion, government announced ten new Iconic places to be taken under the Phase II of Swachh Iconic Places initiative. These ten new iconic places which are to be brought to a higher standard of swachhta and visitors’ amenities are :
1. Gangotri,
2. Yamunotri.
3. Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain,
4. Char Minar, Hyderabad,
5. Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assissi, Goa,
6. Adi Shankaracharya’s abode Kaladi in Ernakulam,
7. Gomateshwar in Shravanbelgola,
8. Baijnath Dham, Devghar,
9. Gaya Tirth in Bihar
10. Somnath temple in Gujarat.
The ten Iconic places already in Phase I are:
1. Ajmer Sharif Dargah
2. CST Mumbai
3. Golden Temple, Amritsar
4. Kamakhya Temple, Assam
5. Maikarnika Ghat, Varanasi
6. Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
7. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra, J&K
8. Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri
9. The Taj Mahal, Agra
10. Tirupati Temple, Tirumala.
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, it was decided to undertake a special clean-up initiative focused on 100 iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is the coordinating Ministry for this initiative, in association with the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and the concerned State governments.
The aim of this initiative is to make these 100 places model ‘Swachh Tourist Destinations’, that will enhance the experience for visitors from India and abroad.
