Punekars team up for a plogathon, collect 19k kg waste

Ahead of the Swachh Sarvekshan team’s inspection scheduled in January 2020, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) organised a plogathon across the city on Saturday.

The drive took place on 98 main roads, 187 gardens and 500 civic and private schools. The drive mainly focussed on the banks of the Mula-Mutha river, one of the most polluted areas in the city.

A total of 19, 815 kgs of plastic and other trash was collected during the drive, said civic officials.

Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol, who was present at the event, said, “The drive was conducted at 776 spots across the city. The response to the very first plogathon organised by the civic body was commendable. The event was a representation of what Punekars will now continue to do every day. I thank every Punekar who participated in the event, which will prove to be a milestone, in the upcoming Swachh Sarvekshan rankings.”

Plogathon is an activity to clean trash along the way as one goes jogging. The drive started from Karve statue, Kothrud at 8 am and ended at Bhide bridge at 10.30 am. MLA Chandrakant Patil also attended the campaign.

At least 75,632 people participated in the drive. Residents, members of various NGOs and Ganesh mandals, citizen groups, fitness clubs and students from various schools also were a part of the campaign. After the drive, all the participants, mayor and municipal commissioner Saurabh Rao gathered at the Bhide bridge and took a pledge to keep the city clean.