With an aim to spread awareness among masses about the importance of keeping their surroundings clean, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday launched a ‘spot the kachra’ campaign to inform people that sanitation is an obligatory function of the municipal corporations.
The party has appealed to the public to paste stickers wherever they find garbage. These stickers read - Iss gandhgi ki safai BJP ki MCD ke zime hai (BJP's MCD is responsible for cleaning this garbage).
The AAP has made its intentions clear to contest 2017 municipal elections on 272 wards across the city. It had also successfully contested civic bypolls in May. The AAP's sanitation campaign comes two days after the Kejriwal government started a massive fogging drive.
"People of Delhi should know that cleanliness and sanitation is the primary function of the municipal corporations," said Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday.
"The MCDs were not able to conduct fogging in time so the Delhi government has taken upon itself to carry out fumigation drive across the city to check the breeding of mosquitoes," he added.
When asked that the Aam Aadmi Party has started this campaign eyeing the 2017 municipal elections, Jain said, "The party has taken up this campaign for making the national capital neat and clean, sanitation is the sole purposes behind this programme."
The health minister also said that the city government cannot take up the function of sanitation in Delhi.
"To carry out cleanliness drive across the city requires a huge infrastructure, which the municipal corporations here have. But they aren't performing their duties well," he added.
Fogging drive
The city government has been claiming that the fogging drive has been picking up from day two.
The government started fogging drive with 100 machines on Thursday to eliminate mosquitoes which spread vector borne diseases like chikungunya and dengue.
On Friday, the city government's Public Works Department (PWD) deployed professional agencies which used around 200 small machines and 25 big machines for carrying out fumigation in different parts of Delhi.
The drive is being supervised by PWD engineers on the ground and "in right earnest to give relief to the public of Delhi from the spread of these vector borne diseases", said the government.
"The fogging will be done in every street and locality on alternate days." The drive has been planned in a way that at least seven to eight fogging machines will be operational in every constituency at a given time in next few days, it added.
"The government has made it clear that the special fogging drive is to supplement the efforts of the civic agencies, since there is a great demand from the public to fumigate their respective residential areas."
"The government is hopeful of positive contribution from all the civic agencies in ensuring relief to the public. Prevention from vector borne diseases is a priority at the current juncture."