Kochi lagging in cleanliness, Kerala govt should take responsibility: Piyush Goyal

But I do not love it in the way I see it over here.

The port city of Kochi is lagging in cleanliness and the local bodies, as well as the Kerala government, have to take responsibility for it, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

Goyal, while participating in a blogging event in the Marine Drive area of the city, told reporters that he loves Kochi, but not in the way he sees it over here.

Blogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litter.

The Union Minister along with BJP workers picked up litter from the roadside on the Marine Drive and while doing so, told reporters that the city has plummeted several hundred positions in the cleanliness index in a short period.

''I also love Kochi. But I do not love it in the way I see it over here. I do not love Kochi when in a short period it falls from the fifth rank to 324 in the Swachhta index. I think it is extremely sad,'' the Union Minister said.

He further said that ''the local bodies and the government will also have to take responsibility'' for the lack of cleanliness in the city.

Later in a statement issued on his behalf, Goyal said that the local authorities should sensitize people on the disposal of garbage in cities.

He also said in the statement that for the last eight years Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been raising awareness and urging citizens to keep the environment and the cities clean just like their homes.

''Citizens will have to be conscious about reducing the use of plastic, particularly single-use plastic, which is now banned,'' he said in the release.

He also said that greater participation and support from the local authorities were expected to maintain the beauty and cleanliness of Kochi.

The Union Minister was on a two-day visit to the southern state.

On Monday, he inaugurated various infrastructure projects at the Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) here including 13-storey office space for budding entrepreneurs and an effluent treatment plant.