Morning walkers at Rabindra Sarobar, Kolkata, were greeted by an unusual, yet inspiring sight on a Sunday after the election excitement. There were about 50 schoolchildren cleaning the surroundings and urging others to follow their lead. As part of a ‘clean the lake’ drive, they plucked weeds and plastic packets, removed garbage from the ground adjacent to the lake.
Frequent deposition of garbage, plastic waste and other non-perishable materials has made the lake shallower. In the past three decades, the depth of the lake has been reduced from 35 feet to 10 feet. The students themselves were very excited about the cleanliness drive. They felt it was their duty to keep the lake clean.
In another initiative, in Kolkata, Subhojit Ghosh, the country’s ISC topper, joined a group of 40 to help clear the Beckbagan-Park Circus stretch of poll clutter. It’s up to some young Kolkatans and a few others to make the city a cleaner and better place to live in.
A three-pronged people’s movement to rid three parts of the city of muck on the walls, poll clutter and garbage in a water body brought the city’s ISC topper and the mayor together over the weekend.
CPM and Trinamul posters and banners were pulled down, skyliners plugged with flags snapped and bills scraped off walls. The clean sweep also claimed illegal placards pinned to trees and tied to electric poles.
“The best part was the ripple effect – some party workers in the area started to clean up their mess once the word spread,” said Rehan Waris, whose Cleanworx team was joined by students from Loreto House, Saifee Hall, St Joseph’s College, Don Bosco Park Circus, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan.
Parallelly, some youth were engaged in Mission Dalhousie. With plastic gloves and brooms, they attacked the paan spit, posters and billboards scarring the grand old edifices of Stephen House, Currency Building and more. The clean-up campaign moved from the streets to the waters for the third round of Operation Dhakuria Lakes. Joining volunteers from Bengal Rowing Club with shovels, spades and pitchforks were 35 students from 11 schools, the citizens’ group Calcutta Sparkling, some morning walkers and the mayor.
Source: The Telegraph