As a part of ongoing ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign, the Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj organized a mega Swachhata festival in J&K's famous tourist spot at Mansar lake of district Udhampur here today. 'Waste to Wealth' exhibition and Wall Paintings campaign was also organized to mark the day.District Development Commissioner, Udhampur, Ravinder Kumar was the Chief Guest on the occasion who formally inaugurated the Swachhata festival while Chief Executive Officer, Mansar Development Authority, Nagender Singh Jamwal was the Special Guest.Speaking on the occasion, the DDC said that the main objective of organizing the Swachhata festival is to create awareness among student community and general masses to promote clean, green and pollution free environment and conserve natural resources.While highlighting the importance of cleanliness in our day to day lifestyle, the DDC urged upon the participants to maintain a clean and green environment to realize the vision of the Father of our nation about the Swachh Bharat.He called upon the general public to come forward to spread the message of cleanliness and hygiene in the area and increase their participation in this campaign.For the beautification of Mansar lake, more than 20 Schools and Colleges of the district which includes Government Degree, Udhampur, GDC Majalta, Polytechnic Collge, Shivalik College of Education, ITI College, besides students of various educational institutions participated in wall painting and theme based paintings were drawn on the walls.
The main attraction of the festival was the boat made by students of ITI College, Udhampur using waste plastic bottles and exhibited their technical and innovative skills.Students from various educational institutions displayed their models made from different waste materials and exhibited their innovative skills in making the surroundings clean by proper disposal and recycling of waste material.The DDC interacted with the participants and appreciated their innovative work.Department of Information and Public Relations Udhampur arranged a cultural programme on ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ in which renowned artists from Ramnagar, Ramaloo Ram & Party and Ram Ditta & party enthralled the audience with their performances.Among others, ACD, Noor Alam, Principal GDC, Majalta Kusum Gupta, District Information Officer, Er Sajad Bashir Somberia, ARTO, Rachna Sharma, Principal Polytechnic College, Principal ITI College, Superintendent ITI College, Kaiser Malik, Tehsildar Majalta, BDO Udhampur Rupali Vaid ,BDO Majalta , Pritam Lal and ZEPO Madan Dogra besides other tehsil level officers were present on the occasion.