CEOs of both Shrine Boards carry out sanitation drives as part of ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign

Hundreds participated in cleaning Banganga, Sind and Lidder rivers

SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 19: As part of the ongoing fortnight long cleanliness campaign ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ all over the country, Governor N.N. Vohra, Chairman, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, had directed the CEOs of both Boards to launch special sanitation drives. In regard to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board this drive covers the entire track from Darshani Deodi to Bhawan and, besides, all the Shrine Board’s establishments located at Jammu, Katra, enroute, in the Bhawan area as well as at the Sanjichhat and Katra helipads.

In Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine area the cleanliness drive has been launched under the supervision of identified officers under the overall supervision of CEO, Shri Jitendra Kumar Singh, to secure high standards of sanitation and cleanliness. The ongoing cleanliness drive is in addition to the normal sanitation activities of the Shrine Board which include maintaining sanitation along the entire track, in the Bhawan area and in the various establishments of the Shrine Board.

A special focus of this special sanitation drive is to remove all the solid wastes which have accumulated on the hill slopes along the Yatra route between Banganga and Bhawan.

Under this campaign, in collaboration with the Reasi District Administration and Katra Municipal Committee, the CEO organized cleaning of Banganga and its embankments in which sanitation and other staff of the Shrine Board, Municipal Committee and a large number of students of the local educational institutions, their teachers and members of the civil society participated. A rally was taken out from Darshani Deodi to Banganga in which the students and other participants, carrying banners and placards, enlarged awareness about the crucial need of cleanliness. Later, they undertook cleaning of Banganga and its embankments as well as the nearby areas.

Mr. Jitendra Kumar Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Shrine Board; Mr. Anshul Garg, Additional CEO; Ms. Neelam Khajuria, SDM Katra; other Civil, Municipal Committee and Shrine Board officers as well as heads of various educational institutions of the area participated in the cleanliness drive.  

In sofar as the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board is concerned:  it may be recalled that after the recently concluded Shri Amarnathji Yatra-2017, Governor had laid special emphasis on maintenance of Sanitation and Cleanliness in the entire Yatra area. As per his directions a Special Sanitation Drive has been carried out at all the Yatra Camps and along both the Yatra tracks, under the supervision of CEO, Shri Umang Narula, with the active support and cooperation of the Anantnag and Ganderbal District Administrations, Chief Executive Officers of the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) and Sonamarg Development Authority (SDA); Sub-Divisional Magistrate Pahalgam and Municipality Committee Pahalgam.

In the Review Meeting chaired by the Governor it was reported that all the toilets in the upper Yatra Camps had been charged and properly closed; all plastic and other non-biodegradable wastes were collected from the tracks and along the hill slopes and brought down to Baltal and Nunwan where these materials were crushed in the shredding machines which had been specially installed by the Board. The Sanitation and Cleanliness Drive was also especially carried out along the banks of rivers Lidder and Sind where this effort was also joined in by social activists and interested civil society members.

In a meeting chaired by the Governor today, Governor has directed both the CEOs to draw up well considered plans for constructing toilets in Schools, preferably girls’ schools, to further advance the Swachhata Campaign. Governor would be taking a further meeting in this regard in the next week.