Amitabh Bachchan kickstarts cleanathon

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has urged citizens to contribute an hour of their time on October 2 to keeping the city clean. He was speaking at the Mahacleanathon organised by the state urban development ministry at the Yashwantrao Pratishthan at Nariman Point on Saturday.

The Mahacleanathon, which was kickstarted at the JJ Hospital, aims to make hospital premises garbage- and plastic-free. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, minister of medical education Girish Mahajan and secretary of the urban development ministry Manisha Maiskar were also present on the occasion, along with Dean of JJ hospital Tatyarao Lahane. Mr Fadnavis exhorted women to fuel its efforts to end open defecation across Maharashtra. He said, “All successful drives have women at the forefront, so their participation is vital to us for the programme to be successful.”

Under the Swachh Maharashtra Abhiyan, the government is seeking 50 lakh hours of shramdaan (contribution) from citizens. The state expects to reach its target of 60 lakh man hours by January next year. Meanwhile, of the 10 cities declared free of open defecation, five of them are located in Maharashtra.

Mr Bachchan pointed out that there was a close link between good health and cleanliness. Maintaining cleanliness in public places should be the responsibility of all citizens, and everyone should refrain from littering, he said.