Thousands partake in clean Sabarmati drive

Ahmedabad, June 5 (IANS) As thousands sweated it out, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani here on the World Environment Day on Wednesday launched a massive five-day Sabarmati river clean-up campaign initiated by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

A brain child of Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra, the 'Swachh Sabarmati Maha Abhiyan' (Sabarmati river clean-up campaign) was launched from the banks of the river near historic Sabarmati Ashram with the participation of more than 15,000 people.

An elated Nehra tweeted, "No words to explain what's happening today in Ahmedabad. The city has come together to clean the Sabarmati river... Such huge turnout that there is no space for people in the riverbed!!"

The Central Pollution Control Board's National Water Quality Programme has included the Sabarmati among the most polluted rivers in the country.

Chief Minister Rupani, who also participated in the clean-up in the dried up riverbed, told reporters here that, "This drive has been taken up for the first time in many years."