BHUBANESWAR: A special sanitation drive got underway in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. The cleaning drive, which will continue for 15 days, was jointly inaugurated by new BMC commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra and mayor A N Jena. On the first day, intensive drain and road cleaning activities were carried out in 26, 32, 33 and 34 wards. "All the 60 wards will be covered in the drive," Mishra said.

Sources said the health department has provided 125 volunteers to BMC for the job. The event will serve dual purposes-spreading awareness about environment and sensitizing people about steps to prevent malaria, filaria and dengue. Resident welfare associations and schoolchildren would be involved in the drive.

Volunteers would distribute leaflets among people to keep the environment clean. Thrust of the sanitation drive would be cleaning of drains. Now, all eyes are on the continuation of the drive as the BMC discontinued the much-vaunted "clean Bhubaneswar" campaign in the past. Though chief minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the campaign in Saheed Nagar last year, it did not move ahead thereafter.