Speaker flags off garbage collection van

Our Correspondent

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Palampur, April 6

Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the state Assembly, launched a campaign for door-to-door collection of garbage under the Swachh Bharat Mission here on Sunday. Palampur has become the second town of the state, first is Shimla, where door-to-door collection of garbage has been started by panchayats.

Butail flagged off a vehicle for garbage collection, given to Aima panchyat, in the first phase of the programme.

Butail said in the next phase of the programme, other panchayats of the town would also be covered and necessary assistance would be provided by the state government. He urged other panchayat pradhans to come forward with proposals and get funds.

The Speaker announced that the Palampur Municipal Council would extend its cooperation to the panchayats. The main objective of this programme was to keep periphery areas of the town neat and clean till the municipal limits of town were not extended. Palampur had witnessed vast urbanisation in the past 10 years and maximum population had opted to construct their residences in the panchayat areas, he said.

“In view of the rising population of Palampur town, panchayats are over burdened in the absence of resources and there is no provision for disposal of garbage, which has become a major problem. The state government is committed to disposing garbage scientifically and safely. Therefore, I have come forward to educate people to form self-help groups to keep the town clean and green,” Butail said.

He said Palampur was one of the important towns of the state as it was visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world every year. He had asked the state government to give special attention to develop this town and allocate additional Budget for the ongoing development projects.

At present, the town needed immediate steps to check haphazard constriction, unplanned development and expansion, particularly in panchayat areas. For this cause, public participation was must, he added.