New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) Ahead of Diwali, the governmentwill flag off a mini marathon as part of its 'Clean Air'campaign to raise awareness about air pollution.
Unin ministers Harsh Vardhan and Mahesh Sharma willflag-off the marathon from India Gate on October 15,coinciding with the birth anniversary of former presidentDr A P J Abdul Kalam, according to an official statement.
"The campaign is being launched to create a mass movementfor reducing air pollution. The idea behind the campaign is toentrust a sense of responsibility among people, so as toconsider clean air as a collective responsibility.
"In order to achieve the objective of 'Clean India' in atrue sense, clean and pollution-free air needs to be apriority," the statement said.
Taking forward the momentum of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'and extending the 'Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali' initiative, the"Swachh Hawa for Swachh and Swasth Bharat" campaign, is beinglaunched by the Ministry of Environment.
"Air pollution is one of the pressing environmentalchallenges being faced at present. With the onset of winters,increased emissions from various existing sources and burningof crop residues, coincides with adverse meteorologicalconditions," the statement said.
"The month of October 2017 is also important, as India ishosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The government has beentaking various steps to address the issue," it added. PTI TDSKIS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.