GUWAHATI, Feb 19 � �Legislation will be enacted to make mandatory keeping of dustbins in front of houses and shops for disposal of waste, and penalty will be levied on anyone violating the same. This legislation to be framed will go a long way in keeping Guwahati city neat and clean,� Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced this said at the cleanliness campaign launched by Gauhati Municipal Corporation (GMC) in the city today.
The Chief Minister, joined by several ministers and senior officials, also cleaned up the streets with broomsticks in front of the premier Cotton College situated at Panbazar. Students of Cotton College also turned up for the cleanliness drive.
Gogoi said that the habit of inculcating cleanliness was of paramount importance to make the city clean.
�As we keep our homes clean so, we must keep the roads and neighbourhoods, too, clean. Otherwise disposal of garbage and other waste materials into the drains and the roads will not only create a dirty and unhygienic environment but also an unhealthy condition in which chances of outbreak of diseases loom large,� he said.
Throwing of garbage into drains � a widely-practised habit with the citizens � invariably clogs the flow of water leading to flash floods in the city during the monsoons. It also poses a serious health hazard, with choked drains resulting in breeding of mosquitoes.
Gogoi said that the responsibility of making the city and other towns of the State neat and clean rested not only on the municipal workers but also upon each and every citizen.
�It is our foremost duty and responsibility to keep our city and towns neat and clean for the sake of a healthy life. A clean environment also leaves a good impression on the visitors flocking to the State,� he added.
The Chief Minister said that the cleanliness drive would now henceforth be a regular exercise and it would be organised in all the small and medium towns across the State. He also called upon the civic authorities to involve the school and college students, NCC, scout and guides, and NGOs in the cleanliness drive.
