Mangaluru: Ramakrishna Mission’s 23 rd Swacchata Abhiyan was carried out at Padil Junction on April 8. The drive was jointly flagged off by advocate Vivekananda Paniyal and Prof. Sathish Bhat. Speaking on the occasion, ADV. Paniyal said, “Internal purity leads to external cleanliness.

If we keep our minds clean it ultimately leads to cleansing the nation. Such Swacchata Abhiyans are possible only by people with Swacch Manas. Ramakrishna Mission has the potential to unite thepublic with the same noble intentions under one banner and contribute towards a better & cleaner city”. Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Dhanesh Kumar, Sumam Sunny, Mohan Padeel & Several others were present on the occasion.

New Bus Shelter: The temporary and dilapidated bus shelter at Padil junction was more of a nuisance and eyesore and was not helping the public too as it lacked proper roof and seating arrangement. Volunteers of the Abhiyan decided to erect a better and proper shelter in the same spot for the benefit of the public.

Local auto drivers and members of Swacch Padil group have helped in realizing this dream. Proper seats, roof to protect the waiting passengers from the Sunlight & rains, concrete levelled floor covered with tiles and the hoarding having the message of awareness about cleanliness have given a major facelift to the bus shelter. Sri Dilraj Alva guided the volunteers and Sri Uday K P, Sri Kodange Balakrishna Naik coordinated the work.

Cleanliness Drive: Members of Youth Centre Padil cleaned and removed heaps of garbage lying behind the bus shelter. Sri Ashok Subbaiah led the team of volunteers in removing the old dilapidated bus shelter & cleaning the spot. Taranath Alva & others urged and appealed to the street vendors to vacate the space near roadside thus helping the pedestrians.

Swacch Yekkur team members cleaned the area surrounding Padil Auto stand. Students of Nitte Physiotherapy College cleaned the surroundings of Ullal Srinivas Mallya Circle. Students of Nitte Institute visited the households in the Padil area distributing awareness handbills and urged them to keep their area clean. All the volunteers were served tiffin in the premises of New Friends Padil.

24 th Shramadan: 24 th Shramadan of Swacchata Abhiyan was carried out in the surroundings of Bolara Sri Marigudi Mahisha Mardini Temple. On April 8, Swami Jitakamanandaji Sri Taranath Shetty Bolara jointly flagged off the drive. Sri Seetharama Mulihithlu, Sri Suresh Shetty and others were present on the occasion.

Clearing the garbage: The local residents were littering a particular spot in the corner of the Bolara Marigudi temple road. Members of Nivedita Balaga under the guidance of Smt. Rathna Alva thoroughly cleaned the spot and have decorated the place with beautiful flower pots. They also met the local public and appealed them to keep the area clean and not to litter here and there and to give the collected garbage to Waste management workers.

A team of volunteers under Smt. Vijayalakshmi cleaned the roads leading from Bolara to Yemmekere. Lecturer Ishwara Bhat, Smt. Vasanthi Nayak, Riyaz Ahmed Vamanjoor, Jagan Kodikal, Shivu Puttur, Rajeshwari Vijayraj, Sujith Prathap and nearly 300 active volunteers participated in these drives. MRPL is sponsoring the drive.