Dharmendra Pradhan leads Swachhata drive in Sambalpur, 1 lakh join
Synopsis
Former Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took a broom to the streets of Sambalpur at dawn on 10 October, leading a Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 drive that mobilised nearly one lakh people at 500 locations across the district — and used the platform to sound a pointed warning against single-use plastic threatening the city's environment.
Key Takeaways
Dharmendra Pradhan led the Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 drive in Sambalpur, Odisha on 10 October 2026 .
Nearly one lakh people participated across 500 locations in Sambalpur district.
The drive ran from Laxmi Talkies Square to Gol Bazar , beginning at 6:30 am .
Pradhan warned against the widespread use of single-use plastic in Sambalpur, calling it a serious environmental threat.
The campaign is part of the nationally coordinated Seva Sankalp Abhiyan and aims to make cleanliness a daily habit rather than a one-off event.
Former Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday, 10 October 2026, launched a large-scale cleanliness drive in Sambalpur, Odisha, as part of the 'Swachhata Hi Seva 2026' campaign under the 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan'. Nearly one lakh people participated across 500 locations in the district, making it one of the broadest public sanitation mobilisations the city has seen in recent years.
How the Drive Unfolded
Pradhan picked up a broom and led the initiative from Laxmi Talkies Square to Gol Bazar in Sambalpur city, with the drive commencing at 6:30 am. He was joined by senior district administration officials, including the Sambalpur District Collector, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), the Superintendent of Police, the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation Commissioner, and members of multiple voluntary organisations. The sweep covered areas under the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation as well as surrounding urban localities.
What Pradhan Said
Addressing participants, Pradhan framed cleanliness as an act of service rather than a civic obligation. 'Cleanliness is service. This is a very important campaign. Today, in Sambalpur district, more than 500 urban areas and over 100,000 volunteers and sanitation workers are engaged in cleaning work. This is a sign of cleanliness, a way of living a disciplined life, and we should adopt it,' he said.
Pradhan also raised the alarm over the widespread use of single-use plastic in Sambalpur, warning that it posed a serious threat to the environment. He argued that harming the environment ultimately meant harming human society and property, calling for collective responsibility in safeguarding public spaces. He urged citizens to extend cleanliness habits beyond their homes to neighbouring areas and shared public spaces.
Scale and Objectives of the Campaign
The 'Swachhata Hi Seva 2026' campaign aims to convert cleanliness from a periodic civic exercise into a sustained mass movement. Organisers stressed that the initiative seeks to encourage citizens to treat sanitation as a regular daily practice rather than something triggered only by official drives. The campaign also specifically targets the reduction of single-use plastic consumption across the district.
Broader Context
The drive is part of the nationally coordinated 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan', which has been rolled out across multiple states to mark key civic and national milestones with community participation. This comes amid renewed Centre-level emphasis on extending the gains of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which was first launched in 2014 and has since undergone several iterations. Sambalpur's scale of participation — with over a lakh volunteers at 500 sites — signals strong administrative and community mobilisation at the district level.
The campaign's next phase is expected to focus on sustaining the momentum beyond the single-day drive, with civic bodies in Sambalpur reportedly planning follow-up awareness programmes on plastic waste management.
Point of View
But the real question is whether a single-day mobilisation of a lakh volunteers translates into sustained behavioural change. Sambalpur's single-use plastic problem — flagged by Pradhan himself — will not be resolved by brooms alone; it requires enforceable local regulation and municipal infrastructure for waste segregation. The Swachh Bharat Mission has been running for over a decade, and while open-defecation numbers have improved, India's urban plastic waste crisis has deepened. Without a concrete follow-up plan from the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, this risks being another headline event in a long series of drives that inspire for a day and change little for a year.
NationPress
10 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 campaign?
Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 is a nationally coordinated cleanliness campaign under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan, aimed at converting sanitation into a sustained mass movement. It mobilises citizens, volunteers, and sanitation workers at multiple locations simultaneously to promote clean and healthy public environments.
How many people participated in the Sambalpur cleanliness drive?
Nearly one lakh people — including over 100,000 volunteers and sanitation workers — participated in the drive across 500 locations in Sambalpur district on 10 October 2026. The effort covered urban areas under the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation as well as surrounding localities.
What did Dharmendra Pradhan say about single-use plastic?
Pradhan expressed serious concern about the extensive use of single-use plastic in Sambalpur, warning that it posed a threat to the environment and, by extension, to human society and property. He called for collective responsibility in protecting public surroundings.
Which officials participated alongside Pradhan in the drive?
The Sambalpur District Collector, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Superintendent of Police, Sambalpur Municipal Corporation Commissioner, and members of various voluntary organisations all participated in the drive alongside Pradhan.
What is the broader goal of the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan?
The Seva Sankalp Abhiyan aims to encourage citizens to adopt cleanliness as a daily habit rather than restricting it to special drives. It also seeks to strengthen public awareness about sanitation and discourage the use of single-use plastic across participating districts.
