Operation Godavari Clean-up programme was taken up by Puducherry minister for tourism Malladi Krishna Rao on Sunday. Mr Krishna Rao brought about 500 volunteers of the Yanam Pourula Sankshema Sangam and took up the cleaning. The programme started at 7 am and continued till 5 pm. Volunteers picked up all floating waste material like polythene bags, plastic and other materials from the various Godavari ghats. They also picked up waste from the Gautam to Kotilingala ghats. Mr Krishna Rao, along with the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Mr V. Narayana Swamy, had a boat ride a few days ago when the Central minister made a transit halt at Rajahmundry and found the Godavari water polluted with waste water and material. He revealed that people of Yanam, his constituency (in the middle of East Godavari), a Union Territory, depended on the inflow of these waters for drinking and felt that it was his duty to take up the cleaning. The minister also said that there were possibility of release of Rs 150 crore for cleaning the river. He said that Mr Narayana Swamy had taken the initiative for this. Mr Krishna Rao also said a pipeline at a cost of Rs 40 crore was being laid from Dowlaiswaram to Yanam for provision of drinking water to the people of Yanam. A storage tank was being built over 45 acres.