Parameswaran Iyer, secretary, ministry of drinking water and sanitation, said, "In the phase one of this drive, we have chosen Vaishnodevi shrine, Golden Temple, Taj Mahal, Manikarnika Ghat, Kamakhya temple, Ajmer Sharif, CST, Jagannath temple, Puri, Tirupati Balaji temple and Meenakshi temple.
The Centre has decided that 10 iconic places in the country, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai, will be part of a special drive under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Along with these 10 places, the union environment and forest ministry, too, has decided to focus on ten protected areas for a cleanliness drive, and push them towards a plastic-free and litter free regime. Nine out of the ten iconic places, to be brought under the special drive, are places of worship and the Centre will soon draw up a plan for the premises of these tourist destinations and its peripheral areas too.
Parameswaran Iyer, secretary, ministry of drinking water and sanitation, said, "In the phase one of this drive, we have chosen Vaishnodevi shrine, Golden Temple, Taj Mahal, Manikarnika Ghat, Kamakhya temple, Ajmer Sharif, CST, Jagannath temple, Puri, Tirupati Balaji temple and Meenakshi temple. The urban development ministry, tourism ministry and sanitation ministry will work together to make this happen."
Iyer added, "We have World Bank as one of the funding partners and we have also invited corporate sponsorships to tie up with each tourist destination." Iyer informed that the corporates have already come forward. While the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) will partner for the Jagannath temple, Hindustan Zinc Limited, has committed to partner with Ajmer Sharif.
The environment ministry's plan to choose national parks and tiger reserves is based on the footfall of the tourists, who visit for wildlife safaris. During the first fortnight of this month, the ministry began a pilot of the programme the Coringa wildlife sanctuary, Gir wildlife sanctuary, Kanha Tiger Reserve, Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve, Thane flamingo sanctuary, Nagarhole tiger reserve, Periyar Tiger reserve, Sariska tiger reserve, Mudumalai tiger reserve and Jim Corbett tiger reserve. Across these parks, the ministry with the state forest departments, is trying to keep the forest free of plastic.
"These parks have been chosen as a representative sample and the scope will be widened to other parks too. Littering in and around these parks also gives rise to man-animal conflict, which we want to prevent," said Ajay Narayan Jha, secretary, ministry of union environment, forest and climate change.
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