Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju flagged off a rally, as part of ‘Swachhata hi Seva,’ a mass cleanliness and sanitation drive, at the Collectorate on Sunday.
Hundreds of conservancy workers, National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from various institutions marched on the streets with placards on the importance of personal hygiene.
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar also participated in the programme. They supervised removal of encroachments in Arapalayam. Heavy machinery was used to clear stormwater drains to make way for rainwater to reach the Vaigai river.
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Work on construction of 30 community toilets also started on Sunday.
The Swachhata hi seva rally began on September 15 as part of the Swachh Bharat initiative.
The series of events will conclude on October 2, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary celebration.
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The Collector, while addressing the press, said officials from the District Rural Development Agency, Public Works Department and Forest Department were working on Vaigai Restoration Project. A five-part work - clearing encroachments; solid and liquid waste management; removal of Prosopis juliflora trees; clearing supply channels and outlets; and strengthening boundaries - would be taken up.
Conservancy workers would visit hospitals, schools, colleges, vegetable markets and industries to raise awareness of cleanliness and hygiene. On Monday, they would visit hospitals.