BHUBANESWAR: A ‘Clean and Green Bhubaneswar’ campaign was launched by the Commissioner of the BMC, Samarth Verma in Khandagiri-Udayagiri heritage area here Tuesday.
The campaign is a collaborative effort of BMC and Orissa Environmental Society (OES) which was long in the making. With rich heritage and culture behind it and being located in an attractive natural environ, Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha and the city of temples is now confronted with numerous challenges, mostly for its rapid expansion, exploding population and developmental pressures.
Among the pressing environmental problems are the mammoth amounts of garbage generated and their management, cleanliness of the environment, decline in green cover, protection of water sources and their conservation, increasing traffic congestion and developing an effective public transport system.
The recently published Swachh Surveskhan report 2019 has ranked Bhubaneswar 288th in the country, though the city has the recognition of being the No. 1 smart city in India. With the increasing concrete structures and black-top roads in the city, enhanced release of exhausts from automobiles, decreasing numbers of trees with advanced developmental works, the city has earned the iniquitous distinction of being the hottest city of the state during summer months.
Keeping these facts in mind, OES resolved a proposal to launch the campaign which has been appreciated and accepted by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). The objective of the campaign is to make the initiatives of the administration fruitful with the active participation of the people of the city.
In a public meeting organised under the chairmanship of the OES President S N Patro, Verma joined as the Chief Guest and opined that we are required to exhibit our commitment for making our environment pollution-free, green and attractive. He sought the cooperation of all the inhabitants to make Bhubaneswar a clean and green city so as to be at the top of the Swachhta list. Arun Mallik, Superintending Archaeologist of Archaeological Survey of India (Bhubaneswar Circle) was the Guest of Honour on the occasion. He stated that Bhubaneswar as a heritage city needs to protect its ancient monuments and alongside make the city adorable by enriching its environment.
At the beginning, Manoranjan Mishra presented the welcome address and Raghunath Prusty conducted ‘Green Resolution’ oath among the members. Among others, the Additional Commissioner of BMC Surath Chandra Mallick, Secretary of OES Jaya Krushna Panigrahi, Debabrata Swain, Debendra Nath Satpathy, Seba Mohapatra, Ashok Kumar Rout, Manju Mishra, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Girija Shankar Acharya, Swapna Behera and Bijan Basini Mohanty also spoke on various aspects of the campaign.
Pradeep Kumar Rath presented the vote of thanks. After the meeting all the members participated in a waste collection drive conducted in the locality. The organisations who were associated with the campaign include ASI (Bhubaneswar Circle), Khandagiri Baristha Nagarik Sangh, Jayadev Walkers Club, Bharatiya Yog Yog Sansthan Khandagiri Yog Zilla, Khandagiri Anchalik Vikas Parishad and Cosmopolis Welfare Association.