Bhubaneswar: A massive cleanliness drive will be launched at the Ekamra Kshetra – the abode of Lord Lingaraj – here on Sunday morning. The Ekamra Kshetra drew over lakhs of devotees from across the State on Friday on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri festival.
Reiterating its focus on cleanliness, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) on Saturday decided to organise a mega cleanliness drive in the entire Ekamra Kshetra under ‘Mu Safaiwala’ campaign to clean up the arteries and sub-arteries of the area.
The sanitation exercise will be held from 7 am to 10 am and the city civic authorities have urged everyone to join in order make the initiative successful. More than 500 people, including staff of BMC, BDA and BSCL, NGOs, school and college students, Safai Karmacharis, among others will be engaged in the programme.
Besides, celebrities, especially renowned personalities from the Old Town area, including noted writer Anant Mohapatra and writer-historian Anil Dhir are also joining the event to encourage and motivate people participating in the exercise.
The drive covers various areas such as the 2.5 km Rath road from Lingaraj Temple to Mausima Square, Bindu Sagar, Giani Zail Singh Road, among others.
“The aim is to launch an initiative which not only help in cleaning up the city – one spot at a time – but also create awareness among citizens to keep their environment and surroundings clean,” said BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary, who is also the BDA Vice-Chairman and CEO of BSCL, after chairing a meeting in this regard at BDA Conference Hall.
Worth mentioning here that, the State Government has recently announced a package for revival and preservation of the heritage value and grandeur of Lingaraj Temple and its surroundings on 66-acre of land.
The package for Ekamra Kshetra in the first phase includes Outer Access Road Development, Lingaraj Entry Plaza, Bindu Sagar revival plan, parking space, Lingaraj Heritage Complex, development of amenities for Kedar Gouri-Mukteswar complex, Heritage e-auto project, relocation projects and heritage interpretation centre.
