SOA Varsity students on cleaning drive in Odisha’s capital city

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 3:

As part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, around 600 students of the SOA University descended on the crowded Master Canteen locality in the Odisha’s capital city on Sunday and cleaned up the whole area.

Armed with brooms and containers, busloads of boys and girls spread out in different parts of the area, considered the gateway to the city as the railway station is located here, and started cleaning the garbage.

In three hours, they had cleaned up the city bus stand, the numerous roads lined by eateries and small shops, the open spaces and the area in front of the railway station.

Mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Ananta Narayan Jena and local MLA Priyadarshi Mishra also joined the students and encouraged them.

“We hardly do this kind of work, but it is something that needs to be done. I feel very happy doing the cleaning,” said a young girl who is studying engineering in the university.

Several students said that they were willing to join the clean-up operation on holidays. “It will not be possible on working days as we have to attend classes,” they said.

Some of the students also enacted street plays to inculcate the need for cleanliness among the large number of commuters who passed through the area.

The students were seen talking to the shop owners and auto rickshaw drivers urging them to ensure that the area remained clean.

Director (Admissions) of the University Dr Manas Kumar Mallick, additional dean of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) Dr Raj Kumar Hota, Medicine specialist at Sum Hospital Dr Samir Sahu, associate professor Dr Jyoti Ranjan Das and director of Voice of SOA Community, the University’s Community Radio Centre Rusi Patnaik and senior faculty members encouraged the students and supervised the cleaning operation.