Patna: A sanitation campaign organised in Patna under Swachhta Pakhwada (cleanliness fortnight) came to an end on Saturday.

BJP leader C.P. Thakur, along with hundreds of volunteers, students and residents, swept away trash and remains of puja offerings along the Gandhi Ghat. The drive started from National Project Construction Corporation Limited's Bihar zone office to NIT Ghat.

The drive was held under the aegis of Clean India Mission by the Union ministry of water resource, Ganga Rejuvenation and the National Project Construction Corporation Limited. During the event, hundreds of employees and senior officials of NPCC volunteered to clean up muck, sludge and remains of Puja essentials littered throughout Gandhi Ghat. The campaign was held from March 16 to 31.

"The objective of the event was to spread the message about cleanliness and to encourage people to take sanitation as their moral responsibility," said S.S. Attri, zonal manager, NPCC.

Thakur said: "The habit of hygienic practices is inherited in our culture. People shouldn't spread dirt nor let others do it. Swachh Bharat Mission has been a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it should be continued."

Answering a question on rising communal tension, he said: "Like the initiative to make the country free of dirt, filth and open defecation, social problems too would be wiped out from society."

Patna ranked 262 out of 434 cities in the National Sanitation Survey (Swachhta Sarvekshan), 2017, scoring 879.58 out of 2000 points. The Union ministry of urban development has entrusted the Quality Council of India to conduct the survey. Despite poor rankings last year, the city hopes for better rankings this time. The evaluation is intended to foster a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities and create cleaner urban and rural spaces in the country.