Kamal Hassan joins Clean India campaign on b'day

Noted actor Kamal Hassan, who turned 60 on Friday, celebrated the milestone by taking up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project–Clean India–in the city. Kamal cleaned up the garbage in the lakes.

The veteran actor was nominated by Modi last month as one of the ambassadors for this massive nation-wide environment oriented programme launched by the prime minister himself recently amid much fanfare.

As the day dawned heralding his 60th birthday, Kamal who had earned the sobriquet “Ulaganayakan” from his fans for donning a variety of roles in his film career, wielded the broom in cleaning the polluted Madambakkam lake at suburban Tambaram. The programme, in which locals enthusiastically participated, was organised by the “Kamal Narpani Mandram” (social service forums).

Overawed on the recognition he got from the prime minister for having been chosen as one of the ambassadors for this programme, Kamal said: “We are religion-free and colourless as far as politics is concerned.”

“We hope this movement is strengthened,” he added.

The actor recalled his earlier statement that his effort was nothing new for him or his supporters. “We have been doing this for a long time,” he averred.  Such an effort was part of nation-building exercise, he said.

Further work of cleaning the lakes which were in a dilapidated condition, would be taken up in a phased manner with the help of the state goverment and by involving the locals in the respective areas.