Delhi CM launches sanitation drive after Chhath Puja; MCD removes litter from 1,100 ghats

New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta launched a special clean-up drive at Vasudev Ghat on the Yamuna, hours after the conclusion of Chhath Puja on early Tuesday morning.

Delhi Mayor Iqbal Singh said that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) carried out extensive sanitation drives, deploying special teams at more than 1,100 ghats across the city in view of the Chhath Puja celebrations.

Accompanied by Culture and Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra, the chief minister collected litter, including water bottles, flowers, diyas and other solid waste materials. She also swept a portion of the ghat.

"Chhath festival was celebrated across the city and some waste is expected to have been left behind. We will clean it up through a special drive," she told reporters.

The waste items floating on the surface and the entire premises of Vasudev Ghat are being cleaned up, she said, adding that everyone needs to join the drive.

"Sanitation work needs to be carried out round-the-clock, throughout the year. It is a sustained effort that needs to be undertaken by the government and the people as well," she said.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, accompanied by Mayor Singh, launched an MCD campaign to collect garbage at the Yamuna Ghats and artificial ponds created in parks and other areas for the Chhath festival.

The Delhi government this year prepared Chhath ghats at 17 points across the Yamuna from Palla on Haryana border to Kalindi Kunj besides setting up around 1,500 other ghats within the city.

The city mayor stated that special cleanliness teams were deployed in all the MCD zones to undertake intensive cleaning, desilting of drains, garbage removal and washing of ghats.

The MCD also ensured fogging, installation of dustbins, deployment of water sprinklers, proper lighting and beautification of the ghats during the Chhath Puja festival.

Horticulture teams were engaged to enhance the surroundings, while senior officials closely monitored the arrangements to maintain cleanliness throughout the festival period, Singh said.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj also participated in the cleanliness drive.

Bidhuri along with party workers volunteered at the Harkesh Nagar Chhath Ghat in the Tughlakabad assembly constituency.

The model Chhath Ghat was built by the Delhi government on nearly five acres of the DDA Park in Harkesh Nagar, where thousands of Puravanchali brothers and sisters celebrated the festival, he added. PTI VIT VIT KSS KSS