Nepal man striving to keep Jalandhar 'swacch'

A Nepali national who has been residing here for the last 19 years has taken upon himself the task to make the city clean even before 'Swacch Bharat Mission' was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gangadhar Sapkota, who makes a living by selling newspapers and taking up other minor jobs said, he embarked on the task since August 2014, inspired by Sant Balbir Singh Sichewal.
"When the Prime Minister launched the 'Swacch Bharat Mission' I remodelled my endeavour," he said.
"Earlier I used to work alone to keep the city clean and spent my money for the purpose. Slowly people started assisting me and now I have a team of 20 people," Sapkota said adding the Deputy Commissioner has started helping him and promised more assistance.

Deputy Commissioner K K Yadav said, "After coming to know about his endeavour, I started helping him. We have provided items required for the cleanliness drive like brooms, spades, paint, plants etc."
Noting that he never received any financial aid, Sapkota said he works three hours extra to earn money for the mission.
Sapkota said, "Air and water doesn't belong to any particular nation. It is our primary duty to keep the place we live in clean and, if India becomes 'swacch', Nepal too will become beautiful."
"Heavy industrialisation and reckless lifestyle has pushed the environment to the brink of destruction. The only way out is cleanliness," he added.