Swachh Survekshan 2020: Indore Is India’s Cleanest City Yet Again, Here’s Why

New Delhi: ‘Indore rahega No. 1’ (Indore will remain number one), continuing with this motto of last few years, India’s cleanest city for three years in a row – Indore, has retained the crown yet again. In the fifth edition of Swachh Survekshan, the format of the survey was tweaked to adopt a Swachh Survekshan League model, where instead of once in a year exercise of assessing the cities and states, the assessment happened throughout the year. In all the three quarters as a part of Swachh Survekshan League 2020, Indore topped the charts. The city has made a concerted effort in all aspects of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan objectives to hold on to the top spot every year in Swachh Survekshan rankings. It is already attained Open Defecation Free Plus Plus (ODF ++) status, which means total sanitation in terms of solid waste management, improved sewerage lines, stormwater drains and pucca cement roads, in addition to achieving 100 per cent segregation of waste at source. Talking about the unique initiatives that Indore has been following in bid to retain its title, Asad Warsi, Indore’s Swachh Bharat Mission Consultant said earlier,

We are known as the city for adopting unique models – be it in terms of waste management, sanitation or sustainability and that is why Indore has been winning the title of India’s cleanest city for all these years. We sincerely hope, this year as well, we retain the crown and become the winner for the fourth consecutive time as we have put our heart and soul at this.

Indore’s Unwavering Focus On Swachh Survekshan Rankings

Mr Warsi explains that since the very beginning of Swachh Survekshan, Indore’s focussed on three main areas – one achieving 100 per cent waste segregation at source, secondly, treating waste on the same day and thirdly, on utilizing the waste within the city effectively. According to IMC, nearly 1,200 tonnes of waste, comprising 550 tonnes of wet waste and 650 tonnes of dry waste, is being managed completely for a population of about 35 lakh effectively through recycling, composting and biogas initiatives. He adds,

In 2016, Indore decided to introduce and institutionalise the two-bin system in a bid to make waste segregation a part of every household. In the year 2017 and 2018, we continued our efforts and decided to convert waste from two of city’s main market into biogas, which was further used to run city’s buses and treating overall city’s waste via composting and recycling. In 2019, we decided to make Indore ‘a no landfill city’ and therefore removed 15 lakh tonnes of legacy waste in a mere six months’ time and reclaimed 100 acres of land which is now worth Rs. 400 Crores. For 2020, before COVID, Indore decided to continue its effort of waste management and further achieve sustainability. The city also started to re-utilise sewage treated water for gardening activities and currently is using 12 per cent of it in day-to-day gardening activities. Then COVID outbreak happened and city decided to change the approach a bit and focus on how to manage waste in the time of coronavirus. Today, Indore has introduced fourth bin at every household for COVID-related waste like gloves, masks. We have institutionalised a process wherein we have told every household to keep all COVID related waste separately, even our sanitary workers are equipped to handle this type of waste. Along with this, we have installed 1000 COVID bins across the city in case people want to dispose any COVID-related waste while they are on road.

In 2020, since the outbreak of coronavirus, Indore has introduced fourth-bin to manage COVID-waste effectively

Indore is also generating 1400 kgs of CNG per day and sustaining 15 of its Urban Local Bodies through it. Along with this, plastic waste from the city is successfully being collected and is being sent to the plastic waste treatment facility in which it is converted into diesel. The treatment plant is able to process 8 tonnes of plastic every day and give 3500 litres of diesel on a daily basis.

Achievements Of Indore In Waste Management

Overall, Indore has 35,000 plus homes where home-composting is followed, the city also has 16 zero-waste colonies in which every household practices waste segregation and the waste is utilised within the colony itself via composting and recycling process. Moreover, the city has 12 disposable-free markets, wherein no plastic item is used and the waste generation is as less as possible and even if the waste is generated it is treated effectively within the market.

Indore’s Swachh Approach In The Times Of Coronavirus

All the 8,500 sanitary workers in the city have been provided with PPE kits and other equipments to deal with the city’s waste effectively during coronavirus pandemic

Talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and how Indore has made sure that all its 8,500 sanitary workers have the gear they need to remain safe and manage city’s waste effectively, Mr Warsi said,

We have given the sanitary workers personal protective equipments which are gloves, bodysuit, masks and trained each and every worker on how they have to manage waste with utmost care in these times. No sanitary worker comes in contact with the household owners when they go for waste collection, people of the city are advised to keep waste bins outside their house. We have also trained the sanitary workers on how they need to take care of their personal hygiene which includes washing hands and clothes. Along with this, one round of COVID testing for all the workers have been done to check the spread of the virus and now we follow testing only for those who show or exhibit symptoms of COVID.

Signing off, Mr Warsi said that Indore will continue its fight against waste, the aim is to continue all the waste management initiatives and sustain the city’s effort.

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.