20/07/2026
On 12 July 2026, the National Human Rights Organisation (NHRO), in association with the Lake Town Progressive Youth Centre, undertook a community cleanliness initiative in Lake Town, Kolkata, aligned with the West Bengal Government’s Swachhata Se Swagat campaign.
The campaign reflects a broader understanding of cleanliness — not merely as the removal of waste, but as a collective responsibility towards creating healthier, safer, and more dignified public spaces. Sustainable cleanliness outcomes are achieved when government institutions, community organisations, and citizens work together towards a shared objective.
At the grassroots level, the success of such initiatives depends on more than a one-day activity. It requires identifying local challenges, mobilising community participation, ensuring coordination with civic authorities, and encouraging residents to become active stakeholders in maintaining their surroundings.
The initiative was spearheaded by Mrs. Banashree Bose, Chief of State Public Policy, NHRO West Bengal, who led the coordination efforts involving community volunteers, local stakeholders, and civic authorities to facilitate effective implementation at the ground level.
The Lake Town initiative demonstrated this collaborative approach. The drive witnessed participation from 17–20 local volunteers, supported by 7–10 sanitation workers provided by the South Dum Dum Municipality. The municipality further extended operational assistance through trucks, tractors, and machinery, including JCB support, enabling effective waste removal and area-wide cleaning.
According to the participating volunteers, the initiative contributed towards extensive cleaning across Block B of South Dum Dum Municipality and Ward No. 30, including the removal of roadside waste accumulation and public obstructions that affected the cleanliness and accessibility of shared spaces.
However, the significance of a cleanliness initiative extends beyond the physical transformation of an area. Public hygiene is closely connected with public health, environmental responsibility, and the dignity of everyday life. When communities actively participate in maintaining their surroundings, cleanliness evolves from being an administrative responsibility into a shared civic value.
As part of NHRO’s broader Bharat Jagrukta Mission, the initiative also focused on engaging with local residents and encouraging awareness around responsible waste disposal, neighbourhood cleanliness, and individual participation in maintaining public spaces. Feedback from volunteers indicated a positive response among residents, reflecting a growing understanding of the role communities play in sustaining cleaner surroundings.
NHRO’s participation in this initiative represents a larger belief — that social development is strengthened when institutions and communities move together. Government support provides the necessary framework, but lasting change emerges when citizens develop ownership of the spaces they share.
A clean environment is not only a reflection of better infrastructure; it is a reflection of collective responsibility, awareness, and respect for the communities we build together.
[NHRO, Swachhata Se Swagat, Bharat Jagrukta Mission, Community Participation, Civic Responsibility, Public Health, Sustainable Communities, Human Rights, Lake Town, South Dum Dum Municipality]
