Indore: Residents To Clean City On Goga Navmi As Safai Mitras Take Off On August 28

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Even as more than 8k sanitation workers will be on holiday on the occasion of Goga Navmi (August 28), residents of the cleanest city in the country will fill in for them and clean the city for a day ensuing that cleanliness standards remain intact.

‘Public representatives, government officials, members from voluntary organisations, and people from all walks of life will pick up brooms and clean their city giving respect to sanitation workers who work day-in and day-out to upkeep cleanliness. Their effort will also ensure that the city’s Swachhta is not compromised even for a day; Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav said.

Swachhata Maha Janbhagidari Abhiyan in city

The Goga Navmi festival will be celebrated by the Valmiki community on August 27. The following day, cleanliness workers will take an en-masse day off. In their absence on August 28, the Mayor and municipal commissioner Shivam Verma held a meeting on Saturday for drawing a strategy to ensure cleanliness in the city remains unaffected on that day. They decided to run a ‘Swachhata Maha Janbhagidari Abhiyan’ across different zones and wards of Indore.

Commissioner Verma emphasised that the campaign would mobilise citizens, public representatives and organisations across the city. ‘Each group would take responsibility for cleaning their respective zones or ward areas, ensuring that sanitation workers could enjoy their holiday without compromising the cleanliness of the city,’ he said.

Bhargav and Verma called upon citizens to step up in solidarity with sanitation workers, urging everyone to participate in the cleanliness drive on August 28 by cleaning their streets, localities, wards and zones. The campaign has garnered support from a wide range of organisations, including representatives from social and religious organisations, the Sikh community and several banks like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI Bank, UCO Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank.

Market associations, the Lions Club, NSS, NCC, BSF's 15th Battalion, Swayamsevak Sangh and NGOs such as Team Basics, Team Divine, Team HMS and Team FFCT have also pledged their participation.