A volunteer-driven organisation has started cleaning the banks of Tolly’s Nullah along several stretches between Hastings and Garia.
The NGO carried out a pilot clean-up at Sadar Ghat, near the Kalighat temple, from June 5 to June 7.
The initiative brought together hundreds of volunteers from The Art of Living Foundation, along with young people, public representatives and community leaders.
“We signed a memorandum of understanding with the Namami Gange Programme in December. We have also taken permission from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to clean the ghats and the banks along the Adi Ganga, and to raise awareness about why the waterway must be kept clean,” said Rajesh Somani from The Art of Living Foundation.
“The pilot cleaning drive was conducted between June 5 and June 7, but we did not stop there. We cleaned other stretches after that. We will continue to do the cleaning,” he said.
Somani said they were involving residents with them. “We are also asking people to take a pledge that they will not throw waste into the canal,” he said.
The pilot project culminated on June 7 with an Adi Ganga Puja and Ganga aarti at Sadar Ghat.