Swachhta Pakhwada observed in Ministry of Coal

The Pakhwada was formally launched on Independence Day, 15th August 2017 by carrying out special activities to mark the beginning of Swachhta Pakhwada.

 

Shri Susheel Kumar, Secretary Coal convened a pre-pakhwada meeting to review the Swachta Action Plan of the Ministry and PSU’s. A mid-pakhwada meeting was also taken to review the activities carried out during the first week of Pakhwada.

 

During these meetings Secretary Coal, emphasized on working towards making ‘swachata’, a Jan Andolan, i.e a public movement, so that it inculcates behavioural and attitudinal changes, thus making it sustainable.

 

 

The highlight of the Pakhwada was large scale tree plantation program that included fruit bearing, timber, medicinal plants with the provision for maintenance and watering of plants for one year. More than 5 lakh samplings were planted in the fortnight.

 

Some of the specific activities that merit special mention are as follows:

 

Installation of a plant for production of drinking water under the brand name “Coal Neer” and a Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water Purification Project at Patansawangi underground coal mine. This plant has a capacity to treat 10,000 litres of water per hour.

 

Electrical crematorium constructed on the Ghat of Mahanadi River.

Truck mounted compactor machine provided to the Sambalpur municipal corporation for collection and compaction of the garbage.

A stretch of around 1.5 km in Manimukta River in Vridhachlam, TN was cleaned by involving 2000 volunteers from various NGOs.

Funds were provided to the Government of Jharkhand for making 3 districts open defecation free(ODF).

 

Besides the above, all the units were involved in cleaning of schools, hospitals, Primary Health Centres, anganwadis. Students and staff were made a part of the process. Three different dustbins were installed in schools and hospitals for segregating the waste at the source to ensure proper disposal of solid waste.

 

In villages, under the command area of the PSU’s, cleaning of water bodies, wells, overhead tanks, water collection facilities, storm water drains, streets and roads was taken up.

 

Swachh Bharat awareness session on personal hygiene and environmental hygiene were also organized. This included de-worming drive, health camps, blood donation camps, distribution of Swachhta kits.

 

Finally, for creating awareness, activities like Nukkad Natak; essay, drawing, debate, slogan, wall painting competitions; swachhta talks, discussions, seminars, swachhta rallies; and display of banners, posters were organized in schools and villages.

 

To promote Swachhta and recognize the efforts of the PSUs, best performing unit/subsidiary of each PSU is being awarded a running shield.

 

Ministry of Coal has uploaded the details of activities, photos and videos along with geo-tagging on the ‘Swachta Samiksha’ Portal of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (MoDWS).