New Delhi: Nearly 15,000 sanitation workers conducted a 10-kilometer cleanliness drive within the Maha Kumbh Mela area, and are ready to set a new world record. This effort exemplifies the workers’ dedication and solidarity and reflects the country’s commitment towards cleanliness.
Over the past month, millions of people have taken a holy dip in the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers at the Triveni Sangam during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. While many devotees are immersed in their prayers, dedicated workers are ensuring a clean Kumbh for all.
In Pics: Handwashing For Health: How Dettol Banega Swasth India is Making A Difference At Maha Kumbh
The cleanliness drive was an attempt to establish a Guinness World Record. The final results are expected to be announced on February 27th. Sanitation workers were counted using wristband code scanners.
महाकुम्भ 2025 ने एक और विश्व रिकॉर्ड अपने नाम कर लिया है!
आज, महाकुम्भ मेला क्षेत्र में 15 हजार स्वच्छता कर्मियों ने लगभग 10 किमी. तक सफाई अभियान चलाकर एक नया कीर्तिमान रचा है।
यह रिकॉर्ड हमारे स्वच्छता कर्मियों के समर्पण और एकजुटता का अभूतपूर्व उदाहरण है और देश की स्वच्छता के… pic.twitter.com/T0tEyNLzwh
— Swachh Maha Kumbh (@SwachhKumbh) February 24, 2025
Maha Kumbh 2025 is set to surpass its own 2019 Guinness World Record, when approximately 10,000 sanitation workers participated in a synchronized cleanup.
MAKING HISTORY AGAIN!
Maha Kumbh 2025 is set to break its OWN Guinness World Record of 10,000 sanitation workers cleaning simultaneously!
This time, OVER 15,000 sanitation workers will come together to sweep & clean, aiming to reclaim the record! @cleanganganmcg@SBM_UP… pic.twitter.com/2VkJmuh5Fs
— Swachh Maha Kumbh (@SwachhKumbh) February 24, 2025
Lauding the cleanliness drive carried out by the sanitation workers, Uttar Pradesh Urban Development and Energy Minister AK Sharma said that they were the true heroes of Maha Kumbh 2025. The Press Trust of India quotes him as saying,
They worked day and night to keep the Kumbh Mela area clean.
With cleanliness, health, and hygiene as core priorities, Dettol Banega Swasth India (DBSI) is also proactively promoting these values through various engaging initiatives at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025.
Through collaborations with Parmarth Niketan and Global Interfaith WASH, including a symbolic aarti, DBSI is promoting cleanliness as both a healthy habit and a sacred practice, reinforcing the connection between physical and spiritual purity.
Dettol Banega Swasth India distributes soaps among the pilgrims.
Handwashing and clean drinking water stations were set up in various areas at the Maha Kumbh 2025.
In Pics: Banega Swasth India At Kumbh Mela 2025: Explore The Health And Hygiene Initiatives
Here are some of DBSI’s initiatives for a healthy and clean Maha Kumbh 2025:
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- Distribution of special hygiene umbrellas, emphasizing the importance of clean hands and surroundings.
- Installation of Dettol handwashing stations at various locations, enabling devotees to wash their hands before entering the Ganges.
- Display of hand hygiene messages on boats at the ghats.
- Distribution of soaps to devotees to promote hygiene.
- Comprehensive hygiene training for BSF personnel.
- Performance of Nukkad Nataks twice daily for 45 days across the ghats and Akhadas, conveying messages about handwashing before entering the Ganga and maintaining cleanliness without polluting the sacred water. The Nukkad Natak group is emphasizing that handwashing with soap before entering the Ganga is the correct method, and that soap should not be used in the river.
Watch: Dettol Banega Swasth India At Maha Kumbh: United For A Cleaner And Healthier Maha Kumbh
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
