Page 22 - Mann Ki Baat English
P. 22

Bringing attention to this subject, Shri Patil   Rahul Maharana -                   Rahul Maharana, the green warrior of
          states that ”If we look at the condition of                                         Orissa, shares his source of inspiration
                                                   His inspiring feat of
          the rivers today, we cannot even put our                                            for this cleanliness campaign:
          hands in it. Whereas when we were
                                                   plastic garbage                            “In  2018,  there  was  an  awareness
          young, we used to drink the holy water of                                           program  in  my  college  on  ‘Pollution
          these rivers. Our previous generations   cleaning                                   caused by the mismanagement of
          never even drank bottled water, because                                             plastic and its destructive effects. And the
          whatever was abundant in the villages &   Rahul Maharana of Puri in Odisha is       facts shared helped me understand the
          its rivers. Ever since we came to the cities,   another  Swachhagrahi  who  was     devastating impact of the same.”
          we saw nothing except for plastic and
                                                   applauded by the PM in his ‘Mann Ki        Hailing from a humble background, he
          garbage in those rivers. And this we need                                           has taken up the noble work of plastic
                                                   Baat’  for  his  inspiring  feat  of
          to stop. Because if we don’t take action                                            garbage cleaning on his own and spends
                                                   cleanliness.  Rahul  goes  to   the
          today, what will we leave for our future                                            from his pocket without help from any
          generations?”                            pilgrimage sites in Puri early in the      organisation  or  individual.  Rahul’s
                                                   morning every Sunday and clears the        conviction for cleanliness gives a clarion
          Shri Patil suggested a few steps to follow
                                                   plastic garbage from the sites. With       call to every Indian for carrying out their
          towards making India clean and plastic                                              duties toward cleanliness and spreading
          free:                                    sheer   determination,  Rahul  has         the message of ‘Cleanliness is next to
                                                   cleaned hundreds of kilos of plastic       Godliness.’
          •  Carry a cloth bag while leaving your
                                                   garbage and dirt so far.
          house every time
                                                   It all started when the 22-year-old
          •  Carry a container whenever you go to
          buy milk                                 Rahul Maharana, from Khurda, visited
                                                   Devi estuary near Astaranga along
          •  Dispose  your  garbage  only  in  the
                                                   with his friends and saw the estuary
          garbage trucks and not on the riverside
                                                   littered with waste. A little ahead in the
          • Do not litter on the streets and if you see
                                                   mangrove, he found deposits of more
          anyone doing it, you must stop them
                                                   such waste covered in several layers of
          Even if each one of us spares half an hour   thick mud. He then decided to visit at
          or one hour daily for this noble cause, our
                                                   least once every week and clean the
          nation    will   be     garbage-free,
                                                   place. With that decision made, he now
          pollution-free, and plastic-free.
                                                   sets  out  on  a  solo  journey  every
          Shri ChandraKishor has not only created
                                                   Sunday, with a gunny bag on his back,
          awareness but also inspired people to be
                                                   and collects  every piece  of  garbage,
          a catalyst in the development of the
                                                   litter or waste on the beach and the
          nation, keeping the country clean.
                                                   mangrove nearby. The green warrior
                                                   also plans to launch awareness camps
                   Scan this QR code to know
                                                   at villages  to sensitize people on
                   more about the efforts of
                   Chandrakishore Patil            hazards of pollution and importance of
                                                   protecting mangroves.
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