Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) organised a City-level awareness meeting, tree plantation drive and rally near the Hatiasuni Resource Centre Sunday as part of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)-2026 Week.
BMC Mayor Sulochana Das, Deputy Mayor Manjulata Kanhar, BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana, Odisha State Pollution Control Board Member Secretary Manoj V Nair, BMC ambassador and Olympian Anuradha Biswal, Additional Commissioner Subhendu Kumar Sahu, Environment Standing Committee Chairman Biranchi Narayan Mahasupakar, Slum Settlement Standing Committee Chairperson Mahamaya Swain and several corporators attended the programme.
Hundreds of students, volunteers, representatives of various agencies and members of Team BMC also participated in the event.
Addressing the gathering, Sahu said the C activities were being organised across the country as per the directions of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
He outlined various measures being undertaken by the BMC to reduce air pollution in the City.
BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana, in his welcome address, stressed the need for citizens to adopt sustainable practices in their daily lives to help curb air pollution.
He reiterated the civic body’s commitment to promoting clean and sustainable urban mobility and said active citizen participation was essential to making Bhubaneswar a clean, green and pollution-free city.
Mayor Sulochana Das, who attended the programme as the chief guest, appealed to every citizen to plant and nurture at least one tree. “If every person plants a tree for themselves and takes care of it, Bhubaneswar will flourish as a green city,” she said.
Das said the BMC had undertaken several measures to control air pollution, helping Bhubaneswar secure the fourth position in the national clean air ranking. She urged residents to plant and nurture trees in their homes, surroundings and vacant spaces.
“If the people of Bhubaneswar extend their cooperation, plant trees and take care of them, we can create a clean, green, healthy, beautiful and pollution-free city for future generations,” she said.
Following the awareness meeting, a tree plantation drive was organised, with dignitaries and students planting saplings.
An awareness rally promoting clean air and sustainable practices was subsequently flagged off by the guests and taken through the city. As part of the programme, clothes were distributed among people from different sections through the RRR initiative.
Tricycles were also provided to two leprosy-cured persons, while the Forest Department distributed saplings among the participants.