Delhi LG Taranjit Sandhu participates in cleanliness drive under ‘Swachhta hi Sewa Pakhwada’ campaign
New Delhi : Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, on Saturday joined MCD staff and young volunteers of the Vrikshit Foundation for a cleanliness drive at Durlabh Nath Vatika in Shakurpur.
Local Councillors Kishan Lal and Ajay Ravi Hans, Commissioner, MCD, Sanjeev Khirwar, Deputy Commissioner (North Zone), MCD officials and local citizens were present on the occasion.
The LG’s visit today follows directions issued by the LG Secretariat to various government departments/agencies to observe the Swachhata Hi Sewa Pakhwada by launching specific campaigns with the objective of achieving cleanliness, hygiene and environmental awareness across the Capital. The LG had asked for senior officers to be deputed to supervise the cleanliness activities throughout the period between September 17 and October 2.
The communication from the LG Secretariat had also specified that the LG would be personally reviewing the whole campaign during the Swachhata Pakhwada and had asked for photographs and bi-weekly reports to be submitted to the Secretariat about the activities being undertaken.
The LG appreciated the efforts of the volunteers, saying it was truly heartening to see children so conscious of cleanliness in their surroundings, actively cleaning the park through Shramdaan and transforming the space.
He said a cleaner Delhi begins with public participation, and urged the city’s youth to take ownership of their neighbourhoods and make Shramdaan a people’s movement. Interacting with local residents, he emphasised that maintaining the park now cleaned by these youngsters is a shared community responsibility going forward.
LG Sandhu underlined that while sanitation is the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), citizens too must recognise their own responsibilities and stressed the need to break the habit of littering and instead make cleanliness a part of daily life, just as citizens keep their own homes clean.
He noted that in today’s world, with everyone carrying a camera-equipped phone, citizens are able to capture and share images of civic issues on social media and said he personally monitors such complaints, with those raised prominently on social media leading to immediate action.
The Delhi LG urged citizens to refrain from leaving food items such as rotis for animals in parks, noting that this practice draws stray animals to such spaces, and directed MCD officials to take strict measures to address the issue of stray animals. He conveyed the message of cleanliness by sweeping the area himself and said every citizen must contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, terming it the collective duty of all to keep Delhi clean, hygienic and developed.
Later, the LG planted a sapling under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign, remarking that nature nurtures us just as a mother does, and that it is everyone’s duty to protect it. He appealed to citizens to plant as many trees as possible, adding that together, a cleaner, healthier and greener Delhi can be built.
