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| Cleanliness is central to quality of life, says Satnam Singh Sandhu | | |  Early Times Report
CHANDIGARH, Oct 2: “The dream of a developed India is inseparable from the quality of life of its people. Cleanliness is fundamental to that quality of life, and it must become an everyday civic habit. The government has to provide sanitation infrastructure, and citizens have a shared responsibility to sustain it,” Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said.
Sandhu made the remarks while participating in a cleanliness drive at the Sector 26 Grain Market on Gandhi Jayanti. The drive was held under the leadership of Mahendra Nath Pandey, the BJP’s Chandigarh in charge and a former Union Minister, as part of the Sewa Sankalp Abhiyan dedicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, former president Arun Sood and Mayor Saurabh Joshi were among those who joined party workers, local representatives and residents in cleaning the vegetable market.
Sandhu said the Swachh Bharat Mission, launched by Prime Minister Modi on October 2, 2014, had grown over 12 years from a government programme into a nationwide people’s movement. He said the government had a duty to build sanitation infrastructure, while public participation was essential to sustain it and make cleanliness part of everyday life.
According to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, rural India had more than 12.22 crore individual household toilets by September 17, 2026. More than 5.69 lakh villages had achieved ODF Plus status, with solid waste management arrangements in over 5.38 lakh villages and liquid waste management systems in more than 5.65 lakh villages. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said door to door waste collection covered 97 per cent of urban wards in 2026, while waste processing had risen from 16 per cent in 2014 to 81 per cent.
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs review in May 2026 reported that 65 per cent of the 26 crore metric tonnes of waste identified across 2,482 dumpsites had been remediated, reclaiming nearly 9,000 acres. Chandigarh’s Dadumajra site is among those undergoing remediation. At Delhi’s Bhalswa dumpsite, 99.07 lakh metric tonnes had been remediated by July 31, 2026, the Ministry said.
Sandhu said cleanliness at a busy market was closely linked to public health and the livelihoods of traders, vendors and consumers. He urged shopkeepers and visitors to dispose of waste responsibly and help keep the market clean, adding that citizen participation could make Chandigarh healthier and more liveable. |
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