Madurai now has four new ‘Swachh Ambassadors’ to spread the message of keeping the city clean.
Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar introduced four persons - actor-director P. Samuthirakani, famed orator G. Gnanasambandam, speaker ‘Madurai’ Muthu and Radio Jockey Ramana - as representatives of a cleanliness conscious public - here on Monday. The Commissioner announced that ‘Swachh Survekshan 2018,’ a survey of the Central government, would begin in January. It would rank 4,000 Indian cities in order of tidiness. They would be adjudged on the basis of available infrastructure, source segregation, door-to-door garbage collection and general cleanliness. “Maximum marks are given for citizen awareness,” he said.
“Though we may publicise the survey through different mediums, the best way to reach the public is through these sons of the soil,” he added. He advised people to use simple methods to reduce everyday waste generation. “Each of us generate half a kg of waste everyday. We must strive to lessen that,” he said.
Mr. Samuthirakani said that the youth were the engines of change and would hence have to understand the ground reality of dirt in order to clean the city. “We should not be embarrassed to keep our surroundings clean,” he said.
Professor Gnanasambandam kept the audience in splits by explaining the etymology of ‘Thoodhuvargal,’. He said that cleanliness was a habit. “Cleaning should not be a single day act. It should be part of our daily routine. Public spaces particularly need to be focussed on,” he said. Speaker ‘Madurai’ Muthu spoke of the benefits of Swachhata App and RJ Ramana encouraged everyone to speak about this initiative. “Everyone here will walk out as an ambassador,” he said.
