Officials of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 10th battalion have taken up a cleanliness drive in Krishna river under the Swachhta Abhiyan programme.
At least 300 personnel, along with Commandant Zahid Khan, Deputy Commandants Sukhendu Datta and Dilbagh Singh, participated in the drive at Sitanagaram village in Guntur district on Monday.
With many devotees taking a holy dip in the river and performing pujas during Mahasivaratri, garbage was piled up at many places and on the bathing ghats.
The personnel cleaned the riverbed, bathing ghats at the village and removed garlands, puja material, coconuts, flowers and banana leaves stuck in the river. “As many as 400 expert swimmers and deep divers from the force participated in Swachhta Abhiyan,” Mr. Zahid Khan said.
The garbage collected during the drive was shifted to the dumping yards through the vehicles arranged by Mangalagiri municipality and the NDRF Battalion, the Commandant said.
“We request the devotees to not dump waste in rivers, and strive to keep them clean,” said Mr. Zahid Khan and praised the personnel for taking up the drive in a massive way to protect the environment. Mr. Sukhendu Datta said that NDRF takes up ‘Swachhta Abhiyan’ twice in a month.
