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Dimapur, Aug. 16 (EMN): Northern Angami Students’ Union (Nasu) initiated its annual sanitation drive
to keep Kohima clean, hygienic and healthy.
A total of 349 students from 18 villages took part in a mass cleanliness drive in Kohima, an update informed.
The volunteers cleaned the stretch from Dzüvürü Bridge to Sanuorü Bridge on Friday, it said. Nasu president Aneizo Keditsu said that the drive “relied on fostering students a way of living to keep the environment clean”.
Keditsu shared that students ‘comprise a large number of the population across the state, and some simple steps taken by students can play a major role in cleanliness’. He cited how students can educate the people around them about the use of dustbins, each time they see a person littering. He hoped that such little habits would create a positive impact and make Nagaland one of the cleanest states.
Unlike the other years,it said that the cleanliness drive received more participation from the Nasu federating units, with additional participation from the colonies and shopkeepers. Besides volunteers from 18 villages, the Western Angami Students Union (Wasu), senior leaders, and Angami Students’ Union (ASU) executives also took part in the drive.
Out of all the places, he said that Kohima was chosen to be cleaned as it was the state capital. “We have the pride, the feeling of our elders saying ‘Ura Uvie’. So, cleaning Kohima is like cleaning your own house, your own surroundings, your own environment, and trying to keep it clean and healthy,” he said.
Keditsu informed that all volunteers wore protective gear like masks and gloves during the conduct of the drive. He acknowledged the volunteers, most of whom came all the way from their respective villages to be part of the cleanliness drive. He said that the volunteers also suggested conducting such drives at least two-three times a year.
Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) Administrator Lanusenla Longkumer, who launched the drive, lauded the student body for the “great” initiative. “We should continue to do this kind of social work not only once in a year but should do every month and make our city a clean and healthy city,” she told the students.
Longkumer further said that all citizens must learn to make cleanliness a way of life. Challenging the students to follow a sustainable lifestyle, the official also urged the need to create more awareness on maintaining a healthy surrounding.
Appreciating the initiative, one student volunteer shared that ‘hygiene and sanitation were among the humblest of civic virtue and so cleanliness is a noble step for humans to stay healthy’.
Keditsu informed that Nasu would further focus on educating students and all inhabitants to make cleanliness a way of life. He expressed gratitude to the KMC administrator and her team for providing dumping trucks to collect garbage collected by the students.