Religious leaders give call for cleanliness revolution

Religious leaders at the ongoing Simhasth Kumbh here have given a call to construct toilets and ensure a cleanliness revolution in the country.

Sharing the stage during a Sadbhavana Sankalp programme, the religious leaders agreed there was a need for such a revolution to ensure the country sets an example for the world.

They advocated constructing and using enviornment-friendly toilets so that the rivers and land are not affected by human waste.

Swami Chidanand Saraswati said the world becomes the way we dream about it. "Time has come to have new dreams as every day 1,200 kids die due to dirty drinking water and uncleaniness. We can change the situation."

The programme was organised by Global Inter-faith Wash Alliance (GIWA) with the technical support of Unicef and brought together representative of five religious faiths.

Swami Awadeshanand Giri of Juna Akhara said water is the basic need of life. However, only 0.75 percent water is drinkable. Hence, water conservation is essential, he said.

Imam Umar Iliyasi of the All India Imam Organisation promised to unite Imams from different parts of the country to spread the word about cleanliness. He stressed upon ensuring an educated and healthy India and called on all religious heads to come together to achieve the goal of a open-defecation free India.

Acharya Lokesh Muni of the Jain community said non-violence and cleanliness should appear side-by-side. Our uncleanliness leads to the death of many innocent lives. The transformation is our collective responsibility.

On the occasion, Su Kots of Unicef Wash India, said unsafe water, and uncleanliness leads of diseases like Diahorea and Pneumonia. Such ailments are biggest enemies of children below five.

Shia sect head Maulana Saeed Kalbe Sadik said we must resolve in our hearts to make the country clean and our actions should be directed at ensuring that it becomes a reality.

--IANS

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