Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Sunday undertook the weekly Swachh Puducherry cycle rally in Karaikal towards taking the cleanliness movement and stoking volunteering in all regions of the Union Territory.

This was the sixth such rally in the outlying region of Karaikal and would be followed by similar cycle rallies in the other two outlying regions soon, a Raj Nivas press release said.

Team Raj Nivas drove down to Karaikal by 6 a.m. where it was received by District Collector, Kesavan and V.J. Chandran, SSP and other officers along with representatives of traders associations, civil society organisations, students and the people of Karaikal.

Following a ceremonial guard of honour, the cycle rally commenced from Poovam on the border of Karaikal to Nehru Market and proceeded to Collectorate. The awareness rally was joined by the Traders Federation president, Siva Sankaran from Puducherry.

According to the Collector, the visit of Lt. Governor had provided the right impetus for the administration to take forward the campaign of Swachh Karaikal.

Mr. Kesavan expressed confidence that with the participation of traders, civil society organisations, the students and the people, Karaikal would be declared ODF (open defecation free) within three months and it would also achieve the

distinction of becoming the first region of the U.T. to achieve 100% segregation of waste at source

The SSP said that the officers would henceforth organise the awareness rally every weekend and carry the message of Swachh and Suraksha Karaikal.

Segregation success

Commissioner of Karaikal, Sudhakar, said that in coordination with the NGO, Hand in Hand, source segregation has been nearly achieved in households but is yet to reach the desired level in commercial places. With the cooperation of trading body he hoped to achieve it by another three months.

He also said that weekly rally of students would now be conducted in every street to ensure 100% source segregation and raise awareness against the use of banned plastic.