Puri: Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday participated in a cleanliness drive along Grand Road and at the district headquarters hospital here, calling for collective efforts to make cleanliness a mass movement and eliminate single-use plastic.The programme was organised as part of ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, launched on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. Pradhan also participated in a tree plantation drive under ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative and felicitated sanitation workers on Grand Road.Addressing the gathering, Pradhan said cleanliness and purity had always held a special place in Jagannath culture and Odia traditions. Citing the Manabasa Gurubara rituals and Lakshmi Purana, he said Odisha’s cultural heritage underscored the importance of cleanliness in everyday life. “Keeping the sacred town of Puri clean, hygienic and beautiful is the moral responsibility of every citizen,” he said, adding that Modi transformed cleanliness into a mass movement inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals.Warning against the harmful effects of single-use plastic, Pradhan said plastic waste posed a serious threat to the environment, cattle and marine life. He urged people to reduce plastic consumption and avoid practices that contribute to environmental pollution. He stressed the need to make cleanliness a regular social habit, extending it beyond homes and courtyards to village roads, temples and public spaces.With Dussehra, Lakshmi Puja and Diwali approaching, Pradhan appealed to people to resolve to minimise single-use plastic in their daily lives and work towards building a “clean, sacred, healthy and prosperous Puri”. He said even small individual contributions to cleanliness could help realise the vision of a developed Odisha and a developed India. He thanked sanitation workers, youths and volunteers for participating in the campaign.Puri MP Sambit Patra, Satyabadi MLA Om Prakash Mishra, former Puri MLA Jayant Sarangi and former Brahmagiri MLA Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra also participated in the cleanliness drive.