UP govt launches cleanliness drive, CM Adityanath joins it in Ayodhya

The Uttar Pradesh government and several organisations on Sunday launched a statewide cleanliness drive, which will continue till January 22, the day of the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took part in the campaign in Ayodhya, while other ministers and public representatives joined the drive elsewhere.

”On the call of respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, major cleanliness campaign was started from Shri Ayodhya Dham today. On this occasion, vehicles related to garbage disposal and cleanliness were also flagged off. We are dedicated to keeping the divinity and sanctity of Navya Ayodhya intact,” the chief minister posted on X.

Addressing the public in Ayodhya on December 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to them to take a pledge to make Ayodhya the cleanest city of India.

”This is the responsibility of the residents of Ayodhya.” He had also requested people to run a cleanliness drive at all religious sites and temples across the country from January 14 to January 22.

As part of the campaign, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya cleaned the Balkeshwar Hanuman Temple in Nirala Nagar in Lucknow.

Maurya swept the floor, picked up garbage and put it in a cart.

He appealed to people to participate in this cleanliness campaign.

Another deputy chief minister, Brajesh Pathak, participated in the cleanliness drive at Dakshinmukhi Hanuman Temple in Lucknow. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders also joined the campaign in different parts of the state.

In Mirzapur, a cleanliness campaign was started from Maa Vindhyavasini Devi Dham and Ashtabhuja Temple, in which MLA Ratnakar Mishra along with District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjan participated. Cleanliness drives were also conducted at 209 other temples and places of worship in the district, in which common people participated enthusiastically.

Niranjan said that in order to spread the moral, social and humanitarian values of Lord Shri Ram among people, bhajan kirtan and cultural programmes will be organised in major temples of the district from January 14 to January 22. In Gorakhpur, a cleanliness campaign was also organised at Gorakhnath Temple Complex to make ‘Khichdi Fair’ a zero-waste event.

Adityanath inaugurated the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation’s temporary camp office at the temple complex, the RRR Centre and the automatic vending machine installed by the GMC to provide cloth bags to keep the fair plastic-free.

He also flagged off GMC’s sanitation vehicles on the occasion and also distributed woollen clothes and blankets to the needy people and served the prasad of Khichdi to children.