The Bhagwant Mann government has extended Punjab’s Cleanliness Campaign 2.0 till September 12 after over 83% of civic complaints were resolved, Local Government Minister Harjot Singh Bains said on Tuesday.
The campaign, launched on August 29, covers all 166 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Punjab, including 14 Municipal Corporations and 152 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats.
Addressing a press conference at MC Bhawan, Bains said citizens had lodged 6,459 complaints through the M-Seva app, of which 5,407, or more than 83%, had been resolved on the ground. The minister also announced four mega Saturday cleanliness drives across all 166 ULBs, beginning September 12. The drives will be held in collaboration with NGOs, market associations, youth clubs, religious organisations and Resident Welfare Associations.
Bains urged citizens to spare two to three hours on Saturday mornings to clean parks, markets and neighbourhoods. He said the campaign had demonstrated that sustainable cleanliness requires active public participation.
The Local Government Department has rolled out door-to-door garbage collection across all cities to prevent the recurrence of Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs). Bains urged residents to keep waste at home until the collection vehicle arrives and warned that littering in public places would attract strict fines after the awareness phase.
{{/usCountry}}The Local Government Department has rolled out door-to-door garbage collection across all cities to prevent the recurrence of Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs). Bains urged residents to keep waste at home until the collection vehicle arrives and warned that littering in public places would attract strict fines after the awareness phase.
{{/usCountry}}The minister thanked MLAs, Deputy Commissioners, Municipal Commissioners, councillors and sanitation staff. He said detailed data analysis and photographic evidence of permanently eradicated GVPs would be presented after the campaign concludes.
Bains said the initiative was intended to make citizen participation a sustained part of urban sanitation and create a new benchmark for cleanliness across Punjab.
The government said the extended campaign would help strengthen public participation and ensure cleaner parks, markets and neighbourhoods through continued community-led sanitation efforts across the state every day.