Srinagar, Oct 21: When the whole nation witnessed excruciating levels of pollution on the festival of light, Tassaduq Mufti and his team took an initiative to celebrate this Diwali with a cleanliness drive at Sonamarg.
The cleanliness drive was organized by J&K CM’s grievance cell on 19th October at Sonamarg-Baltal stretch. People from all walks of life joined the initiative to make the drive a successful one and to restore the pristine glory of the valley back.
The initiative taken by CM’s Grievance cell was sponsored by ARASTA, a non-government organisation. Volunteers from District Ganderbal and J&K states Bharat Scouts and Guides in collaboration with Tourism Department Kashmir, Sonamarg Development Authority, J&K Police and Urban Local Bodies also extended their hands during the drive. A team of around 200 participants started the initiative early morning at 8:00 am and concluded at around 5:00 pm in the evening.
“I get strangely obsessed with cleanliness of my valley and Baltal cleanliness drive is the third one in series of drives we conducted this month as in other parts of the valley.” said Tassaduq Mufti, coordinator of the CM’s grievance cell said. He was accompanying the volunteers during the drive.
“We are making this Golden Meadow (Sonamarg) a concrete jungle by myriad constructions. The need of hour is to stop it and to understand the importance of the natural pristine; this valley has been blessed with. We have to sensitize people about the aesthetics of Sonamarg. We are staving off the quality tourist to visit Sonamarg by rambling concretization and the rising pollution” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that during the drive tons of truckloads of trash was collected and segregated in the period in-between and was sent for dumping at different dumping sites. Tassaduq Mufti appreciated the zeal and passion of volunteers who strived to clean the whole intervention zone and promised more such drives in near future. (KNS)