Governor makes a sweeping statement

Governor Sudarshan Agarwal inaugurated a campaign recently to keep the city of Dehradun clean and hygienic by himself picking up the broom. The campaign is a coordinated effort of Dehradun Cantonment Board, the Municipality, Vyapaar Mandal, and various institutional estates such as FRI and IMA. NCC and many schools have also extended their support in keeping the city clean.The campaign is being coordinated by Clean Doon Society. In the past, as Dehradun was sparsely populated the issue of managing huge amounts of waste was not a problem. But with growth in population and spread of urbanization, garbage disposal and maintaining clean and hygienic surroundings has become a major challenge. One of the major reasons why service industries such as IT are not making a beeline for Dehradun is because the city is not clean and the traffic is chaotic. Lack of cleanliness in the capital is also setting a bad example for the other cities and towns, especially in the hills. Cleanliness is recognized as one of the major factors that influences a tourist''s decision to visit and stay for prolonged durations.
Speaking at the launch of the cleanliness drive, the governor called upon the citizens of the capital to come forward to make the city clean. He said that it was the duty of every citizen to ensure that his or her surroundings were clean and hygienic. With the election season round the corner his criticism of painting graffiti and pasting of posters on the walls of public buildings becomes significant.
Concerned citizens hope that the Dehradun civic authorities will enforce the cleanliness related laws and prosecute those who write graffiti and paste posters on the walls. A significant land area of the city of Dehradun is under the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board and institutions such FRI, IMA, ONGC and Survey of India. The participation of the Commandant of IMA, Lt. Gen G.S. Negi, and the director of FRI, Dr. P.P. Bhoj Vaid, has made the campaign all encompassing. Gen. Negi expressed his commitment to the cause and said that all possible help would be provided by his institution in keeping the surroundings clean, apart from making IMA Estate a polythene free zone.
IMA has also shown interest in helping keep the civilian areas around its campus clean. The cleanliness campaign has been launched in Panditwari and Prem Nagar. FRI director also announced his institution''s participation and cooperation in the campaign. The organizers hope that other institutions will also come forward to keep the city clean.
Dehradun Cantonment was represented by its Executive Officer, Pushpendra Singh. Though the Cantonment is by far the cleanest area in the city, the recent increase in population and traffic (due to one way traffic) has made it a challenge to keep it as clean as other Cantonments all over the country. The municipality of Dehradun was represented at the launch of the campaign by its Chief Executive Officer, Dilbagh Singh and Chief Health Officer, Dr. G.S. Maithani.
It is the municipality that in fact is the key organization that is primarily responsible for keeping the city clean. Though the two officers did not give any specific assurances and did not announce any program to keep the city clean, by participating in the launch of the campaign they did exhibit some enthusiasm for the cause. "I hope the Governor will get things moving at the municipality," says O.P. Malhotra, retired deputy head master of the Doon School, who resides in Indira Nagar and is pained to inform that a dust bin placed right outside his house is playing havoc with his health. "Last year I suffered from a massive bronchial attack, something I never and before. I came out of the jaws of death. I have written twice to the Nagar Nigam requesting them to shift it but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears." Secretary of Clean Doon Society Banti Chopra must ensure that this noble endeavour is carried to its logical conclusion. It is common experience that what starts as a bang mostly ends in a whimper.
Says J.P. Barthwal, a resident of Clement Town: "The success of the campaign rests on individual efforts in keeping his or her surrounding clean. Resident associations and shopkeepers'' associations in all the parts of the city will have to lend their support for making this campaign an all encompassing one."