Members of 85 traders associations in Puducherry participated in an awareness rally on cleanliness as part of the all-India ‘Swachh Bharat Saptah’ (Clean India Week), flagged off by the Local Administration Minister, N.G. Panneerselvam.
The Swachh Bharat Saptah is part of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, a mass movement to create a clean India by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Government departments and local bodies and organisations have been observing the Swachh Bharat Saptah through the last week.
The traders’ rally, which was organised by the Local Administration Department, the Puducherry and Ozhukarai municipalities and a federation of traders association, began from the Anna Salai and proceeded through Nehru Street.
The rally was attended by P.T. Rudra Goud, Director, Local Administration Department, G. Srinivas, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes Department, MLA G. Nehru and officials of municipalities.
“The idea was to create awareness about disposal of waste by the business community, as some shops miss the garbage collection vans when they arrive for collection,” said S. Thammu Ganapathy, Commissioner, Puducherry Municipality.
Participants distributed notices to shops on proper waste disposal methods.
“We are taking it up as a challenge to keep our surroundings clean. As traders, we want to do good towards this initiative,” said Shivashankar, secretary, Traders Association of Puducherry.