Gandhinagar, Jan 9 (IANS) The four-day ‘Somnath Swabhiman Parv’ began at the Somnath Temple in Gujarat’s Prabhas Patan from Thursday and will conclude till Sunday, officials said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to begin his three-day visit to Gujarat from January 10, where he will offer prayers at the temple on January 11 and is also expected to lead the ‘Shaurya Yatra’ — a roadshow featuring 108 horses.

The holy city has been spruced up for the ongoing four-day festival, with state administration pulling out all stops to make the event successful and memorable.

The urban administration and sanitation workers are making a significant contribution to this drive by keeping the clean and sacred during the festival.

The sanitation workers are in the spotlight for their special efforts in maintaining cleanliness in the city, leading to strengthening of the devotional atmosphere.

With coordinated efforts from various municipalities, a large-scale cleanliness drive is actively being implemented.

More than 1,000 sanitation workers from various municipalities have taken up the task of maintaining cleanliness and hygiene, ahead of the Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the holy city.

A large workforce has been mobilised to keep the Somnath city clean.

More than 300 sanitation workers from Veraval Municipality and over 700 from Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, and other municipal areas, totalling more than 1,000 workers, are deployed here.

For the past five days, they have been working continuously, day and night, to maintain cleanliness in Somnath and Veraval.

Along with road cleaning and waste collection, excess grass removal and trimming of trees and foliage along the roads is being carried out on a priority basis.

Intensive cleaning of main roads has been undertaken through modern mechanised sweeping machines.

In addition, special sanitation teams have been deployed at accommodation facilities and community kitchen sites set up for devotees arriving from outside.

For the convenience of pilgrims, arrangements for more than 40 mobile toilets (portable toilets) have also been ensured at various locations.

The ‘Somnath Swabhiman Parv’ at Somnath is going to one of the biggest festivals of the year, witnessing lakhs of devotees heading to the city.

In this context, the tireless work of urban administration and sanitation workers has ensured that Somnath and Veraval remain clean, beautiful, and sacred.

–IANS

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