'India is amazing, but garbage is everywhere': Foreigners lead Gurgaon cleanliness drive; urge to maintain sanitation outside homes, shops

NEW DELHI: Foreign nationals living in Gurugram, along with local residents, organised a cleanliness drive on Sunday to clear roads and drains, according to news agency ANI.Lazar, a Serbian national who joined the drive, urged citizens to take responsibility for their surroundings by keeping at least a two-metre stretch around their homes and shops clean.Speaking to media, Lazar said, "Everyone should keep the area within 2 metres of their house or shop clean. We can do this much for our country. This idea came because this land is beautiful. India is amazing. The only problem is that people also need to take care of things that are outside of their house. Indian people are among the cleanest on the planet." He said the campaign began ten days ago and had already included small cleanups in different parts of India."But the moment it's about things outside their house, they think it's not their issue. We have to change that... I started this campaign only 10 days ago. Before that, I was doing small cleanups all over India, like in Tamil Nadu, Bangalore, and Rishikesh," he further added.Another participant, Matilda from France, expressed her love for India but also her disappointment over the lack of cleanliness in Gurugram."India is amazing. I love this country. But it is very sad that sometimes there is a lot of garbage everywhere," Matilda said.Earlier in July, the Haryana Government had reaffirmed its commitment to improve cleanliness and drainage in Gurugram. At a meeting with local residents, Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad directed officials to draw up new plans based on citizens’ suggestions.