It was a perfect day for an early cycle ride. Leaders and senior officers gathered at the Rachi Channamma Circle to cycle around the city to spread awareness about health and hygiene.
On hockey legend Dhyan Chand’s birthday, celebrated as national sports day, the zilla panchayat had organised a cycle rally as part of its Swachh Bharat initiative.
Young athletes and school and college students took part, carrying slogans on keeping the environment clean. They cycled from Channamma Circle to KLE Hospital, Kakati Road, Bauxite Road, Club Road and back, covering a distance of around 12 km.
Suresh Angadi, MP; K. Ramachandra Rao, Inspector General of Police; T.G. Krishna Bhat, Police Commissioner; Krishna Udupudi, chief conservator of forests; Seema Latkar and Amarnath Reddy, Deputy Commissioners of Police; Venkatram Reddy, Joint Director of Agriculture; and others participated.
Need for toilets
Later, at the valedictory function, Mr. Ramachandran asked people to lay equal emphasis on building and using toilets. “Around two lakh toilets need to be built before the district becomes open-defecation free. We have completed work on 30,000 and work has begun on another 70,000,” he said. He added that the Department of Sanitation was focused on building toilets in the houses of rural poor and educating them about the same.
Ravikante Gowda, SP, asked youngsters to spread the word about hygiene around the villages. He asked them to understand that hygiene was a very important part of maintaining good health. They distributed certificates appreciating the participation of cyclists.
