'Swachh Bharat mission' to include heritage sites like Taj, Vaishno Devi, Golden Temple

NEW DELHI: The government has planned a major community-driven clean up exercise for 145 spiritual and heritage places across nine states.

It will start with 10 " iconic" locations, including Vaishno Devi, Taj Mahal, Tirupati, Golden Temple, Ajmer Sharif and Lord Jagannath temple in Puri.

The remaining places are Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu and Kamakshya Temple in Assam.

The cleaning excise will involve participation of culture, sanitation, urban development and tourism ministries. The state administration, too, will be involved.

"Such an exercise will impact the pilgrims. They, too, will become ambassadors of Swachh Bharat mission," said a government official.