Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua on a 2-day visit of Barak; unveils Silchar Swachhata mascot

March 18: Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua arrived in Silchar on Friday. He is on a 2-day visit of Barak Valley. The top bureaucrat of the state was received at the Silchar airport by Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli.

At a function organised by the Silchar Municipal Board (SMB) in association with Cachar  district administration at the conference hall of SMB, Chief Secretary, Barua unveiled the “Swachhata” mascot ‘River dolphin’ in presence of DC Keerthi Jalli and Executive Officer of SMB, Jessica Lalsim.

It needs mention that river dolphin is an endangered species and is reaching towards extinction in the river Barak. To revive this endangered species with a focus on clean river-ecosystem, the mascot for this year has been chosen as a part of cleanliness campaign of Silchar Municipal Board. The mascot for Swachhata (‘River dolphin’) would ensure promotion of Swachhata campaign which is currently going on under the aegis of “Swachh Bharat Mission”.

Expressing his views, Chief Secretary, Jishnu Barua said, “We need to conserve our rivers and so adequate steps must be taken to protect them through effective waste management”. Cachar DC Keerthi Jalli also shared her reaction on the occasion. She said, “River dolphin is an endangered species and researchers from Assam have warned in a study that the endangered Ganges river dolphin, India’s national aquatic animal is heading towards ‘local extinction’ in the Barak river system of the state”.

DC Jalli elaborated on the effective waste management and stated that Silchar Municipal Board in close coordination with District Administration Cachar have started “Swachh Sundar Silchar” (Clean, beautiful Silchar ) project on 14 July, 2019 in the field of Solid Waste Management. She further stated that Silchar Municipal Board have identified thirty Garbage Vulnerable Points in the town and the places were barricaded and banners have been installed with a message which reads “Dumping on the road is a punishable offence”.

It was also pointed out that the Silchar Municipal Board is involved in daily cleaning of commercial areas, Garbage Vulnerable Point and drains. In addition to that Vermi compost has been installed for wet waste management and awareness campaign has been organised among citizens for effective waste management strategy to make Silchar town clean and green. DC Jalli also urged upon the people not to choke the drains with garbage as these are connected to rivers which sustains the aquatic life.

In the meeting, it was also highlighted that the feedback for Swachh Bharat Mission through Swachh Sarvekshan 2022 is currently going on and thereafter through the adoption of this mascot, the awareness to participate in the programme will be spread amongst the masses. Later,a prize distribution ceremony was also held where first three participants who took part in essay writing competition on the theme “Swachhata” were handed over prizes by the Executive Officer SMB, Jessica Lalsim. Assisting Officer SMB, Biswajit Dutta and other officials of SMB also attended the programme.

The State Chief Secretary during the day also reviewed the performance of APDCL in Karimganj and Hailakandi Districts at the DC conference hall in Karimganj. It needs mention here that Chief Secretary, Jishnu Barua is also the Chairman of APDCL and AEGCL.

CS Barua during the review meeting noted that though the power supply has improved in Karimganj District after commissioning of Karimganj 132/33 kv Grid Sub station in Feb. 2021, yet the revenue collection still needs improvement. He highlighted with grave concern that only about 30% consumers make payment of energy bills each month and instructed all field officers to disconnect the power supply of defaulting consumers strictly. He also instructed the civil and police administration to render all support to APDCL for carrying out the disconnection and revenue recovery drive. The meeting was attended by all officers of APDCL stationed at the two districts and senior CGMs from Bijulee Bhawan, Guwahati.