Steve Waugh toils hard to clean Kolkata

Kolkata, May 8: Steve Waugh, the former Australian cricket captain cleaned muck from an Indian water body in Kolkata during the cleanliness drive in the city.

Wading through the dirty waters of the canal, Waugh took many by surprise as he got his hands and feet dirty while cleaning the waste at Ananadapally region of the city on Thursday, May 7.

The enthusiasm soon caught on and many children also joined Waugh on his cleanliness drive, which is an initiative of a self-help group, Kolkata Foundation. Toiling hard, the many pair of hands soon flushed out a large amount of garbage from the canal.

Speaking about his experience of lending help in the project, Waugh said, "This is all about cleaning up the waterways and that's going to be awesomely good for the kids and good for the people. They can get some fish back in here. It's a nice project to be involved in."

Shamlu Dudeja, CEO of Kolkata Foundation, said, "Everybody knows how dirty Kolkata is. If by looking at Steve doing this work, if people of Kolkata can be enthused, then that will be the best thing you can have."

Waugh has lent his support for various community services in Kolkata over 11 years, when he became closely associated with Udayan, a rehabilitation centre for children suffering with leprosy.

He had also pitched in his support to build homes for tsunami victims in Andaman Nicobar islands in 2005.

ANI