Clean Delhi Drive
As a part of the Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna project, another awe-inspiring project was undertaken in Delhi from 6th-12th September 2010 involving an effort to clean the city and spread awareness about civic sense and good citizenship. The event was called the Clean Delhi-NCR Drive (CDD). It was a step towards creating a cleaner and a greener Delhi.
A pilot run was conducted on 25th July 2010 with around 10,000 people cleaning the streets of Delhi and garnering support for the upcoming CDD. Around 250-300 volunteers from each zone in Delhi came together to spread the message through Nukkad Nataks (street plays) and other such creative media. The PVR Saket area in South Delhi saw over 450 people dancing and cleaning the streets. Shopkeepers from each zone participated by keeping dustbins outside their shops. RWAs appreciated the effort and expressed their desire to have CDDs in their localities. The event garnered extensive media coverage.
Following the pilot run, participants of the YES+ DSN workshop (an advanced level youth empowerment program) prepared to create history on the D-Day. The participants cleaned Railway platforms and surrounding areas while dancing and singing songs and creating awareness amongst the onlookers. The Select City Walk mall in Saket came to a halt as 140 volunteers organized a massive event in support of the CDD with music, plays, yoga and dance under the supervision of YES!+ teachers. An inspiring nukkad natak (short street play) was staged by the team. After the event, the volunteers went around telling people about the upcoming CDD and enlisting the support of the audience.
Further, CONFLUENCE, a concert with our enchanting singer Vikram Hazra was also organized by the Yes!+ team on the 16th August 2010 to spread awareness about the CDD. Dancing their way out, the YES!+ crowd inspired the 650 guests with their energies to contribute to CDD in any manner possible. Mahesh Giri ji, a senior Art of Living Faculty added to the celebration by his roaring enthusiasm and speech for everyone to stand up and take responsibility.
The stupendous efforts of Art of Living and WAYE volunteers promiseed to make 12th Sept 2010 a historic day and a new beginning in the series of citizen action movements that would transform our society and inspire our citizenry to take responsibility and keep their environs clean, green and safe especially as the Common Wealth Games are just round the corner.
In an effort to spruce up the capital ahead of the Commonwealth Games, thousands of Art of Living & WAYE volunteers took part in the `Clean Delhi Drive' drive. The drive started from Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid, parts of west Delhi and Dwarka and continued till September 11 at 41 strategic sites covering NCR. The main areas included the Games tourists route, market places, historical monuments, Qutub Minar, Khan Market, Dilli Haat, Nehru Place, New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations, among others. 6000 college students participated in the drive.
