In a step towards achieving sustainable development goals and making the city more beautiful in its true sense and spirit, Municipal Corporation and Chandigarh Smart City Limited are collaborating to generate awareness for the environment by celebrating World Environment Week from June 1–7, 2023. Under Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), a series of activities have been planned to make the city roads safer and the environment healthier.
Camp Chipkar
A Road Safety Camp CHIPKAR was organized with the support of partner organization Patiala Foundation. Many people riding bicycles become victims of horrific road crashes just because their bicycles are not visible to motorized vehicles in the dark or fog. Such mishappenings can be effectively prevented by just pasting reflective stickers on their cycles. Under the CHIPKAR Camp, reflective stickers were pasted on the cycles of Municipal workers who use it as their daily mode of transportation.
Patiala Foundation had started the road safety initiative ‘SADAK’ in the year 2017 with the motive of serving the weaker sections of society and protecting their lives from road mishap.
Cyclothon of Workers Held
On World Bicycle Day, June 3, a cyclothon of municipal workers, officers and councillors, was organized to encourage cycling.
On June 4, a city-wide toilet cleaning drive is being conducted to improve the hygiene and sanitation of public toilets. MCC aims to sustain the open defecation and open urination free status of the city by promoting the use of public & community toilets.
On June 5, celebrated as the World Environment Day, Municipal Corporation Chandigarh will culminate the 15-day long campaign of Meri LiFE Mera Swachh Sheher. Under this campaign, which ran from May 20 to June 5, MCC had established RRR Centres in each of the 35 wards for citizens to donate items that were old but in good condition viz. clothes, shoes, used plastic, old books, toys, decorative pieces, wooden items, metallic items and various other goods for recycling or reuse.
RRR Campaign a Success
To ascertain contribution of its employees and staff in the RRR campaign, MCC also established its own RRR Centre in the office premises itself. Additionally, MCC also deployed a mobile collection vehicle named “Swachh Sawari”, RRR on wheels, facilitating citizens to make donations at their doorstep. To conclude this successful campaign and express gratitude towards the humongous contributions made in the RRR Centres by the citizens of Chandigarh, a cleanliness drive cum thanksgiving event will be organized by MCC in all the 35 wards on the World Environment Day and spread the message of making the “City Beautiful” cleaner and greener.
What is Rupee Store?
On June 6, to continue with the objective of Reuse, Reduce and Recycle, MCC will be inaugurating its first permanent RRR Centre in the Sector 17 market plaza. It will be a significant step taken by MCC in encouraging the citizens of Chandigarh to continue the practice of donating old and good quality useable items from their households which will eventually be refurbished, repaired, and recycled before distribution among those in need.
On June 7, MCC will set up pop up ‘Rupee Stores’ to make the items collected under “Meri LiFE Mera Swachh Sheher” campaign, available to people who need them.
The collected items through the RRR campaign were upcycled by handling partners such as SHGs and NGOs. These up-cycled items will be available for purchase at this store at a nominal price of Rs 1, providing support to the poor and needy to buy and use these articles. The primary objective of the Rupee Store is to provide a solution that bridges the gap between affordability and quality. By refurbishing items that would otherwise go to waste, MCC aims to reduce environmental impact and promote the reuse of resources. This approach aligns with MCC’s commitment to sustainable practices and social responsibility.
