Chandigarh, October 2: Rajya Sabha Member Satnam Singh Sandhu on Thursday called for making cleanliness a daily civic responsibility, saying that a clean environment and hygienic public spaces are essential to improving the quality of life in a developed India.
Sandhu was speaking during a cleanliness drive organised at the Sector 26 Vegetable Market in Chandigarh under the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, held to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The campaign was conducted under the leadership of BJP Chandigarh in-charge and former Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey.
Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, former president Arun Sood, Mayor Saurabh Joshi, party leaders, workers and local residents participated in the cleanliness campaign.
Sandhu said the Swachh Bharat Mission had evolved over the past 12 years from a government programme into a mass movement based on public participation. While the government had created sanitation infrastructure, including toilets and waste-management systems, he said citizens also had a responsibility to ensure their proper use and maintenance.
According to the figures cited by Sandhu, more than 12.22 crore household toilets have been constructed across rural India, while over 5.69 lakh villages have achieved ODF Plus status. Solid waste management arrangements have been established in more than 5.38 lakh villages, while liquid waste management systems cover over 5.65 lakh villages.
He said urban areas had also witnessed expansion of door-to-door waste collection and source segregation systems.
“Cleanliness should not be a one-day task; rather, it should become a daily habit,” Sandhu said, stressing that government infrastructure could deliver lasting results only when supported by public awareness and participation.
Highlighting progress in the management of legacy waste, Sandhu said that by May 2026, around 65 per cent of the 26 crore metric tonnes of legacy waste accumulated at 2,482 sites across the country had been processed, with nearly 9,000 acres of land reclaimed for reuse.
He added that scientific remediation of legacy waste was also underway at Daddumajra in Chandigarh and Bhalswa in Delhi. At Bhalswa, he said, 99.07 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste had been processed by July 2026.
Referring specifically to the Sector 26 Vegetable Market, Sandhu said cleanliness there was directly connected with public health, the livelihoods of traders and street vendors, and the convenience of shoppers.
He appealed to shopkeepers, vendors and residents to dispose of waste responsibly and actively contribute to keeping their surroundings clean. With collective participation, he said, Chandigarh could become a cleaner, healthier and more liveable city.
