Dasara elephants spearhead ‘Har Ghar Tiranga' march with ‘Swachh Mysuru' message
The first batch of nine Dasara elephants, led by Abhimanyu, was roped in for what the authorities described as 'Heritage Elewalk'.
The elephants have been rehearsing for the Dasara procession since the last couple of days, and the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) conceived the idea of using this imagery to add impact to their cleanliness awareness drive.
An official said that the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign is being conducted ahead of the Independence Day since the last few years, but there was a circular from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to use the occasion to spread the message of 'Swachh Bharat'.
More than 150 people, including pourakarmikas, MCC Commissioner Shaikh Tanveer Asif, and other staff were part of the 'elewalk', apart from senior officials and staff from the Forest Department. Many citizens and NGOs were also part of the procession, and slogans related to cleanliness and 'swachhata' were raised. The procession commenced from the Balarama Gate of the Mysuru palace and returned to the same spot after marching till the Ayurveda College Circle.
The 'elewalk' was also significant as a message was sent to the public to eschew the use of plastic flags. All the officials and the mahouts of the elephants waved khadi flags to drive home the point. 'The use of elephants for imageries was thought of, as it draws the attention of and leaves a mark on the public,' said a senior MCC official.
Such initiatives also count for the next edition of 'Swachh Bharat', the official said, and pointed out that nowhere have elephants been used for the 'swachhata' campaign. ''Even if they have been used, it is unlikely that anyone would have used nine elephants. This is something unique to Mysuru as the preparations for Dasara has coincided with the Independence Day,' he added.
In the first edition of the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign, Mysuru was ranked the cleanest city in India, but it slid to the 27th rank in the 2023 edition. However, in the 2024survey, the results of which were announced recently, Mysuru was clubbed among the 'Super Swachh League' cities, which includes only the urban local bodies that have consistently demonstrated top performance in past editions of the 'Swachh Survekshan'.
Though Mysuru is among the cleaner cities of India, there is a perception that it is not enough and the cleanliness benchmark should be set higher.
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