Dehradun. The streets of Dehradun witnessed a unique scene on Saturday morning. Officials, usually busy with files and meetings, were seen cleaning the streets wearing gloves. When a joint team of the district administration and the District Legal Services Authority descended on the Kanwali Road and Laxman Chowk areas, even local residents couldn’t resist. The occasion was a special cleanliness awareness campaign, in which more than 100 people directly participated, launching a campaign against filth.
During the campaign, District Magistrate Dr. Ashish Chauhan not only took charge but also inspected the arrangements and issued strict instructions to the Municipal Corporation officials. In fact, this attitude of the officers clearly indicated that the administration was no longer in the mood for mere formality. The DM stated clearly that simply sweeping the city for a day wouldn’t clean it; the system would have to be on alert daily.
Only campaigns are not enough, the impact must be visible daily.
During the inspection, the District Magistrate instructed officials to develop a concrete plan for garbage collection and scientific disposal in the areas where cleaning has been done. He said that often, after campaigns, the same old situation returns, which is no longer tolerable. Regular monitoring of the identified areas will be carried out to ensure lasting results.
The administration now plans to expand this campaign to every corner of the city. To achieve this, better coordination has been sought between the Municipal Corporation and other related departments. DM Dr. Chauhan stressed that the Dehradun Cleanliness Campaign will fail to achieve its true purpose until ordinary citizens understand their responsibility.
The noose is going to tighten on single-use plastic
A major focus of this special cleanliness drive was the fight against single-use plastic. The District Magistrate instructed officials that issuing challans isn’t the only way to curb plastic use; it’s crucial to educate people about its harmful effects. To this end, continuous awareness programs and strict monitoring campaigns will be conducted in the coming days.
District Legal Services Authority Secretary Seema Dungrakoti, who was present on the occasion, also directly interacted with the people. She said that no law or rule can be fully successful unless we consider cleanliness our moral responsibility. Disposing of household and shop waste in the right place is the first sign of a good citizen.
It is being reported that workers from the Waste Warriors organization also participated enthusiastically in this campaign. Additional District Magistrate Administration Smriti Parmar, Tehsildar Sadar Surendra Dev, Naveen Sadana from Waste Warriors, along with employees from several departments and local citizens were present in the campaign, which ran from Kanwali Road to Laxman Chowk.