NEW DELHI: The famous Sabarimala in Kerala and the Raghavendra Swamy temple in Kurnool of Andhra Pradesh are among the 10 iconic sites added to the phase III Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) mission, drinking water and sanitation ministry officials said on Tuesday.
The SIP is a programme which falls under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and aims at improving cleanliness and sanitation facilities at iconic places earmarked by the ministry. Apart from the two temples, eight other places across the country including Hazardwari Palace (Murshidabad, West Bengal); Brahma Sarovar Temple (Kurukshetra, Haryana); Vidur Kuti (Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh); Mana village (Chamoli, Uttarakhand); Pangong Lake (Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir); Nagvasuki Temple (Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh); ImaKeithal/market (Imphal, Manipur); and Kanvashram (Uttarakhand) have been taken up under Phase III of SIP.
The project, launched in 2016, had added places like Ajmer Dargah, Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus and Golden Temple in phase I while Mahakaleshwar Temple and Charminar were included in phase II. The third phase of SIP was launched on Tuesday at Mana Village near the Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand.
"We want to add as many places under the scheme as possible as they are tourist attractions. So the cleaner they are, the more tourists they will attract," a ministry official said.
The project was launched in 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is being implemented by the drinking water and sanitation ministry in collaboration with the state governments and other ministries like culture and tourism.
Speaking at the launch of phase III secretary of the drinking water and sanitation ministry Parameshwaran Iyer said, "Iconic sites have seen notable initiatives taken up, like improved sewage infrastructure, drainage facilities, installation of Sewage Treatment Plant, water vending machines and better transport fac." He also said that the annual review of phase II sites would begin at Charminar next month.