Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for maintaining the sanctity of pilgrimage sites, volunteers at Prayagraj took the initiative to clean the Ganga ghat in the historical city.
According to legend, the Dashashwamedh ghat has great significance as Lord Brahma performed 10 Ashwamedh Yagnas here. Thousands of devotees to the ghat every day to take a holy dip. Besides pilgrims, local people also take bath at the ghat every day. The heavy footfall leads to a huge amount of litter in the area.
Now, volunteers have taken the initiative to keep Dashashwamedh ghat clean. They come to the ghat every day and remove the litter.
Some of the volunteers belong to Namami Gange while some are from other organizations.
"We started the Ganga Safai Abhiyan taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Whenever get time, our volunteers come here to clean the banks. We also create awareness among people. We also urged the vendors to take a pledge not to use plastic," Kailash Kumar Dutta, a volunteer told ANI.
Rohit Yadav, a volunteer of Namami Gange said they are taking forward the mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to maintain the cleanliness of pilgrimage sites and their mission is to clean River Ganga.
"We come here every day to clean the river banks. We collect the litter. We encourage people not to use polythene and keep the ghat clean," said Neelam Shukla, a Namami Gange volunteer.
Ramji Jain, a local, said ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about cleanliness at pilgrimage sites in Mann Ki Baat, there has been a rapid increase in the cleanliness at the ghat.
"Now the ghat remains clean. Earlier it used to be very, very dirty. The cleaning of the Ganga ghat is being done every day. Cleanliness is visible now in Sangam. It is the impact of Modiji that people are now aware of cleanliness. There is a growing feeling among the people that pilgrimage sites should be clean," Jain told ANI.
Taking note of litter on the Char Dham Yatra route, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday in his monthly radio broadcast 'Mann Ki Baat' expressed concern over garbage dumps in the Kedarnath Temple area and urged the people to ensure that the surroundings are kept clean.
The Prime Minister had appealed in his address that "Wherever we go, let us maintain the dignity of these pilgrimage sites".
( With inputs from ANI )
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