Plogging, a fitness trend that combines jogging with litter removal, has reached Darjeeling from Sweden, where it started in 2016, with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and the Darjeeling municipality joining hands with the Darjeeling-based Vik-Run Foundation.

Plogging is a combination of the words "jogging" and "plocka upp", which in Swedish means pick up, and was started by Erik Ahlström.

“We only complain, it is time to act,” said Vikram Rai, founder of Vik-Run Foundation, while launching the Mero Darjeeling (My Darjeeling) campaign.

The foundation encourages the youth to take up long-distance running regularly and holds races across the hills.

GTA chief executive Anit Thapa and Dipendra Thakuri, the chairman of the Darjeeling municipality, were present at the launch of the initiative here on Tuesday.

As part of the initiative, the Mero Darjeeling team, along with municipal councillors, will hold a plogging competition in all 32 wards. “The trash will be weighed, based on which awards will be presented,” said Rai.

During the event, the municipality's conservancy staff, responsible for keeping the town clean, were felicitated.