‘Porichhonota Soptah’ launched to boost cleanliness across state

The state government launched the ‘Porichhonnota Soptah’ on Monday in the areas under the jurisdiction of all the Municipal Corporations and municipalities in the state.

Firhad Hakim, minister of state for Municipal Affairs and Urban Development, said: “We can beautify the surroundings by keeping the area clean. Besides the civic bodies, we also have to take up the responsibility of keeping our respective areas clean.” Hakim will also be attending Porichhonnota Abhijan at Serampore in Hooghly on August 30.

The special cleanliness drive started on Monday and will end on September 5 in the 125 Municipal Corporations and municipalities.

Under the programme, Councillors from every ward, ICDS workers, and members of self help groups will be participating in cleanliness drives. Schools, colleges, local clubs and members of market committees have also been requested to take part in the week-long drive to keep their respective areas clean. Employees in government offices situated in municipalities and Municipal Corporation areas have also been asked to take the initiative to be a part of the drive. It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Assembly on Monday stressed on keeping the surroundings clean to avoid spread of diseases s dengue and stated that it is spreading mainly in urban and semi-urban parts of West Bengal.

Under the programme, an additional 87,000 people will be deployed all over the state. It will allow deployment of around 30 people in every ward to clean the areas. The main task of the workforce will be to keep the roads, drains and water bodies clean. They will also ensure that waste and garbage are cleared on a regular basis from roads. Stress will be given on cleaning garbage from areas close to markets and hospitals. At the same time, scientific management of solid waste by using around 200 compactors will be ensured.

Besides keeping the area clean, steps have also been taken to create awareness among people so that they continue keeping their surroundings clean even after the cleanliness drive is over after the Porichhonnota Soptah. There will be rallies, distribution of leaflets and display of banners to spread awareness among people.

At the same time, civic bodies and Councillors will also hold small group meetings in wards, besides holding health awareness activities like organising health camps to prevent vector -borne diseases.

The funds were provided by the Municipal Affairs department for the cleanliness drive in all 2894 wards. Senior officers including secretary, special secretary, joint secretary, director and chief engineers of the department started visiting all the municipal areas during the drive.