24 February,2024 03:28 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has attributed the success of ongoing Deep Clean Drive to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's vision. Launched in December, the initiative focuses on cleaning small lanes, slums, and footpaths every weekend.
"It is the vision of our CM Eknath Shinde, that a deep clean drive be carried out in Mumbai. For the past 13 weeks, we have been conducting a continuous deep clean drive every Saturday and Sunday without any breaks," Chahal said, according to newswire ANI.
He said that under the initiative, "we select one municipal school out of the 25 wards in Mumbai, totaling 227, each week. Our goal is to extend this drive to cover all 227 wards in the next 9 to 10 weeks, ensuring the entire city of Mumbai is cleaned comprehensively."
The BMC's deep cleaning campaign, aimed at cleansing the city thoroughly was launched in December last year and is being extended across the entire state.
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"It's worth noting that our deep clean drive is not a part of any BMC program. it is a genuine community effort. Till we do not get support from people's representatives, students, working professionals, and everyone else, this program will not be a success. We even organize street plays to raise awareness and we aim to make it a permanent campaign in the next few months," the BMC Commissioner added.
The ongoing deep clean drive has had a positive impact on air quality of the city which had plumetted due to several ongoing construction projects.
"See, the air quality monitors are placed on poles, around 10-15 feet high. If there is dust below and it rises, the AQI will deteriorate. In October, the AQI here had reached up to 375, and at that time, the Chief Minister issued directives to take action. So, we formulated 28 guidelines, with a significant part dedicated to the deep clean drive. I am pleased to share that two days ago, our Air Quality Index was 40, and today it's still around 50-60. This is a record and a model for bringing down the AQI from 400 to 40. As we gradually cover all the wards in Mumbai through the deep clean drive, you will witness a remarkable transformation," Iqbal Singh Chahal said. (With inputs from ANI)
