Arvind Kejriwal roots for ‘Swachh Dilli’, says capital to become as clean as London, Paris

Arvind Kejrwal takes a leaf out of PM Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission, says cleanliness will be his focus in the next five years.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at the Town Hall event | Photo | Suraj Bisht

New Delhi: Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal Thursday said ensuring a clean Delhi would be his first priority if voted back to power in the upcoming assembly elections.

Addressing his first Town Hall meeting in the Constitution Club, Kejriwal said, “We will clean Delhi to the extent that residents can compare it with other foreign nations such as London, Paris and Tokyo.”

Taking a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission, the CM said Delhi’s cleanliness would be his main focus in the next five years.

The AAP convener, in 2015, had called the Union government’s Swachh Bharat campaign a “showbaazi” and claimed that not a single lane in this country has felt its impact.

Clean Delhi in next five years

Amid chants of the party’s slogan for the upcoming polls “Acche Beete Paanch Saal — Lage Raho Kejriwal“, the CM spoke about his government’s plans and reiterated the changes it has brought in in the past five years such as women’s safety, free health facility and subsidised electricity.

Interacting with around 1,200 people present at the event, Kejriwal answered a volley of questions that were given to him in paper chits.

To a query on when Delhiites can expect a cleaner city, the CM said, “We have improved education in the capital city in the past five years and will give a clean Delhi in the next five.”

He also said there have been several discussions to remove garbage dumps and clean the roads of the capital city. “Work on the landfill sites will also be completed,” he added.

The CM, however, acknowledged that while the AAP government had worked hard to clean Delhi’s water, a lot still needs to be done. “After we came to power, we found that 2,300 areas did not have access to clean water. But now only 125 areas do not get clean water.”

PM Modi had last week slammed the AAP government for not doing enough to either combat air pollution or provide clean drinking water.

Kejriwal later also said that bus rides may be made free for “others too”.