Srinagar, June 2: “Clean Srinagar, Green Srinagar” campaign climbed Sulaiman Hills Saturday as Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand flagged off a sanitation drive to clean the four odd kilometer uphill track of this tourist spot mostly frequented by Amarnath Yatris, who pay obeisance at a temple atop, during the annual pilgrimage.
 The Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation(SMC), Dr GN Qasba and other officers of the corporation were present on the occasion.
 Appreciating the initiative taken by the SMC, the Deputy Chief Minister said that this will have far reaching impact on the tourist industry of the state.
 Describing tourism back bone of the local economy, he said need of the hour is to create better civic facilities with clean environment in the City, particularly in Dal Lake area where the tourists mostly visit.
 The Deputy Chief Minister asked the authorities of SMC to launch awareness campaign among the people and visiting tourists about the benefits of environmental cleanliness besides keeping sufficient number of dustbins on road side and other tourist places. 
 He said the flow of tourists in Srinagar City is expected to increase with commencement of Amarnath Yatra and asked SMC authorities to gear up cleaning operation in Srinagar City, especially at tourist places.
 Talking to reporters Dr Qasba said the City will wear a new look by mid of this month when  all the Traffic Signals will be in place adding that some new machinery was being procured to keep the City clean.
 “Our multi pronged strategy to improve the civic facilities in the City particularly with regard to sanitation will bring a sea change. And this is what our campaign aims at to make Srinagar  clean and green,” he added.
 Meanwhile the Deputy Chief Minister also inspected the traffic signal control units installed at Karan Nagar Chowk. He was told that devices are sufficient to cater the needs of traffic management and are equipped with CCTV facilities.
 Later, the Deputy Chief Minister visited Srinagar Development Authority office at Bemina and interacted with the employees of the authority. He asked Vice Chairman, Khawaja Farooq Renzushah to look into the demands of the employees.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 2 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 2 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 3 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST