Puri temple taken up for cleanliness drive under Swachh Bharat

New Delhi: Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri has been included in the list of 10 places in the first phase for a special cleanliness drive under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

A release issued by the Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry said a special clean-up initiative will be undertaken at 100 iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country. However, the list of all these places has not been finalized yet and discussion is on, the statement added.

The places which have been selected in the first phase for an intensive clean up drive are Vaishno Devi (Jammu and Kashmir), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Maharashtra), Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh), Tirupati Temple (Andhra Pradesh), Golden Temple (Punjab), Manikarnika Ghat (Varanasi), Ajmer Sharif Dargah (Rajasthan), Meenakshi Temple (Tamil Nadu), Kamakhya Temple (Assam) and Jagannath Puri (Odisha).

The initiative has been undertaken under the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will be coordinated by the ministry.

The ministry of urban development, ministry of culture, ministry of tourism and the concerned state governments will also cooperate in the cleanliness drive.