Boxer M.C. Mary Kom takes part in the cleanliness drive in Imphal on Friday. (PTI)

Imphal/Guwahati, Oct. 24: Boxing sensation M.C. Mary Kom today took up the broom to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Manipur, while NGOs and citizens in Assam did the same to clear up the mess after Diwali celebrations.

Mary Kom joined the Clean India Mission by cleaning a part of Dingko Road, one of the dirtiest roads in the Manipur capital.

She was accompanied by 30 students from her boxing academy and Manipur Baptist Church School.

The boxer swept, gathered litter and collected the garbage with her own hands and deposited it inside a mini truck brought along by her for disposal at a site in the city.

Mary Kom joined the mission after Anil Ambani, the chairman of the Reliance Group, invited her.

Guwahati Municipal Corporation workers and members of ward no. 9 nagarik committee clean the Fancy Bazar area

Ambani was one of nine eminent persons invited by the Prime Minister himself for the campaign.

The boxer chose Dingko Road because of its condition, said Jimmy Leivon, her secretary. It is also one of the important roads in the city that links Imphal West and Imphal East districts.

“Mary is very cute and petite. We love her. If she joins the campaign, we will also join in,” said a passerby.

“I appeal to all the people in the state to join the mission and keep their neighbourhood and state neat and clean,” Mary Kom said.

In Assam, an NGO, Sahai, has also come up with a unique way to clean up a district after Diwali.

More than 50 activists of the NGO collected the banana trees that were used during the festival in central Assam’s Morigaon district and instead of throwing them away, sent them to Pobitora wildlife sanctuary to be fed to elephants.

“The drive served two purposes — cleaning the city as well as feeding the elephants,” said Raju Mahanta, the president of the NGO.

In Guwahati, citizens responded well to the Kamrup (metro) district administration’s appeal to clean their roads and bylanes after Diwali.

“We are extremely happy citizens gave a positive response to the appeal. It is the result of the ongoing awareness drive on clean India and Nirmal Assam. Citizens joined hands with Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s officials and employees to clean up different areas and roads,” deputy commissioner M. Angamathu told The Telegraph. The GMC carried out cleaning drives in 31 wards, including the busy Fancy Bazar. The drive will continue till Sunday.

“In previous years, roads were littered with waste, crackers and banana trees after Diwali. The Prime Minister’s Clean India Mission has had an impact on revellers,” Lutfur Rahman, a resident of Fancy Bazar, said.

Students participate in the cleaning drive at Batasipur area in Dhekiajuli. Pictures by UB Photos

Pollution levels during Diwali were less this year in Guwahati. “Our teams are monitoring the pollution levels at six locations of the city — Fancy Bazar, Pandu, Ganeshguri, Chandmari, GMCH and MMCH (Panbazar), along with the district headquarters. The noise pollution levels have been relatively less this year as crackers exceeding a sound limit of 125 decibels have been banned by the Kamrup (metro) district administration,” Gokul Bhuyan, senior environmental engineer, Pollution Control Board Assam, said.

Inmates and staff of Central Jail, Jorhat carried out a cleanliness and plantation drive today on the prison premises as part of the state government’s Pariskar Aru Seuj Asom Hajagota Abhijan (Clean and Green Assam Campaign).