Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, while participating in ‘Swacchata Hi Sewa’ campaign organised by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) at India Gate, expressed his concern over the deaths of sanitation workers in Delhi on Sunday.

The minister stressed on the need to shun manual cleaning and introduce mechanised cleaning of sewers.

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Addressing a gathering after felicitating the winners of Swacchata Painting Competition for students organised by CPWD, Puri said his concern over unsafe and manual cleaning of sewers was shared by the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal.

He said, a good portion of the Rs. 300 crore sanctioned by his ministry for the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi would be spent on procuring mechanised sewer cleaners.

Puri appealed to the citizens of Delhi to not dump garbage into sewers so as to prevent their clogging. He said that we should give up the “attitude” of littering and called for ensuring segregation of waste at source on a war-footing in Delhi.

He said that the ongoing ‘Swacchata Hi Sewa’ campaign, which began on 15 September, has found success in the country. He said as per the reports, over 80 lakh citizens have participated in this campaign in the urban areas of the country. A total of over 3.50 lakh mass action campaigns have been taken up so far, he said.

Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary (HUA) spoke of the need for making cleanliness a part of daily lives to realise a Clean India.

Abhay Sinha, DG of CPWD said his organisation is adopting clean and new construction technologies to ensure environment protection, besides focusing on energy-efficient construction to reduce the Carbon footprint.

He said that CPWD has built 1,200 toilets for Mahanadi Coalfields at a cost of about Rs. 20 crore.

The on-the-spot painting competition on the theme of Swacchata organised by CPWD witnessed enthusiastic participation with over 200 students from 15 schools showcasing their ideas and vision about cleanliness.