Hindon drive reaches Meerut

Meerut Divisional Commissioner Prabhat Kumar and hundreds of volunteers on Monday took part in a massive drive to remove water hyacinth (jalkumbhi) from the Hindon in Meerut district.

Mr. Kumar had kick-started the ‘Nirmal Hindon Abhiyan’, an initiative to clean the river, in Baghpat district on Sunday.

Common man’s help

“We will clean the Hindon with the help of the common man. The initiative aims to return the Hindon to its old form — as a clean river. Districts including Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Shamli and Gautam Budh Nagar will be covered under the initiative and work will start in these districts too. We have also constituted Hindon committees at the village and district levels,” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu.

He said district and block level administrative officers and village heads have been given the responsibility to contribute and monitor the cleanliness drive. District Forest Officers have also been directed to ensure plantation on river banks on a massive scale to ensure the river banks are green.

Daily cleaning

Baghpat Sub-Divisional Magistrate Annapurna Garg said that the Hindon will be cleaned daily for a week from 7 a.m. to 12 noon by panchayat workers. The abhiyan is supported by NGOs, including Neer Foundation.