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Updated December 15th 2019, 09:46 IST
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation asks employees to paddle to work once a week
The Bhubaneshwar Municipal Corporation has adopted a different approach to tackling the problem of air pollution in the city.
The Bhubaneshwar Municipal Corporation has adopted a different approach to tackling the problem of air pollution in the city. Employees of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) have been asked to come to offices either by walking or on a bicycle every Friday.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation commissioner Prem Chandra Choudhary said, "We accept that there are some issues and problems without vehicles but a little inconvenience creates problem in air pollution. We face inconvenience in several aspects of life. It's our choice to take it for the future generation,"
On Friday, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Commissioner who is also the Bhubaneswar Development Authority Vice-chairman, himself reached the office following instructions on implementation day. "It's a good day. We have started with a positive note. I thanked all the staff for cooperating to curb air pollution in the smart city Bhubaneswar," said Prem Choudhary.
Will increase it to two days
Choudhary also said that the MCM is planning to make this practice twice a week. He said that they are planning to pick another day apart from Friday and start implementing this practice to two days a week starting from next month. The BMC commissioner had sent letters to all three agencies- BMC, BDA and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) to take a ride of bicycles or to walking to come office once a week.
'Breathe-Life Campaign'
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had recently joined the 'BreatheLife' Campaign. 'BreatheLife' is a joint campaign launched by WHO, UN Environment and Climate and Clean Air Coalition to raise awareness on the threat of air pollution. Clean Air Asia India (CAA) is supporting WHO-India on strengthening the BreatheLife network across the country. BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary stressed that public engagement should be a major aspect of the 'BreatheLife' campaign. He also highlighted the need for an immediate action plan to reduce air pollution in the next 3 to 4 years.
Published December 15th 2019, 08:56 IST