STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Jammu Heritage Society (JHS) and Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) jointly organised ‘Swachhta Abhiyan’ (Cleanliness Drive) at historic Raghunath Bazaar here on Saturday.
The drive was held in collaboration with the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies of Jammu University and Raghunath Bazaar Businessmen Association (RBBA). The Raghunath Bazaar branch of UCO Bank sponsored the event.
The nine prominent personalities (Navratans) selected by the Heritage Society along with members of the association and JHS went around the bazaar, lifted the garbage from the road and put it in the dustbins. These nine personalities included Sojanya Sharma (Director Information Department), R.K Varma (Director Tourism Jammu), Maj Gen R.S Jamwal (Dharmarth Trust President), Balwant Thakur (Regional Director ICCR Jammu), Ravinder Singh Jamwal (Renowned Sculptor), Er Darshan Gupta (Structural Designer), Suman Gupta (Artist), Vijay Anand (Artist) and Vijay Atri (Well-known name in the field of art, culture and literature).
The programme was led by JMC Commissioner, Kiran Wattal and Health Officer Dr Mohammad Salim Khan. JHS members, RBBA members and other dignitaries present on the occasion assisted the nine in the cleanliness drive.
It was informed that the cleanliness drive shall continue for few months under the guidance of selected Navratans along with Kiran Wattal JMC Commissioner, Dr Mohammad Salim Khan, JMC Health Officer, Dr Parikshit Singh Manhas (Jammu University Professor), Dr Suvidha Khanna (Jammu University Professor), M L Sharma Senior Manager UCO Bank, Om Prakash Mahajan Chairman of JHS and Baldev Khullar President of RBBA besides students of Jammu University (JU).
The drive commenced with the JU students distributing 320 dustbins among the shopkeepers of Raghunath Bazaar. The students also made shopkeepers sign declaration that they will not allow the garbage to remain dumped in their vicinity and maintain cleanliness around their shops.
The RBBA pledged to continue cleaning the bazaar between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM on every Monday, in the weeks to come.
On the occasion, JHS and RBBA also felicitated the selected Navratans. The vote of thanks was presented by M.L Sharma.
Bhuvneshwar Gandotra General Secretary of the Heritage Society, Om Prakash Mahajan Chairman, K.L Bhalla Vice Chairman, Ashwini Arora Vice President, Ajesh Rohmetra Vice President, Sanjeev Kalra Secretary, Nitesh Choudhary Treasurer, Sachin Khurana Member Executive, Narinder Sharma Member Executive and Sanjay Gupta Member Executive and RBBA office bearers Mohit Gupta Senior Vice-president Madan Mohan Sharma Junior Vice President, Sanjay Sethi General Secretary, Ashwani Kohli Secretary and Treasurer Amit Ramesh Kapoor.
