#IndoreRahegaNo1: Here Is What India’s Cleanest City Is Doing To Retain Its Title In Swachh Survekshan 2018

New Delhi: From building public toilets to ensuring cleanliness and basic amenities in these toilets, from door to door waste collection to managing 100 percent of the waste generated in the city and using it to generate energy to redressing people’s problem related to sanitation and waste, the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is walking the extra mile to enhance its overall swachh quotient. Considering all the efforts taken by the Municipal Corporation and the citizens, it looks like the most populous and the largest city of Madhya Pradesh, Indore is in no mood to be dethroned from being India’s Cleanest City in Swachh Survekshan Survey 2018.

Swachh Survekshan Survey 2018, which is being touted as the world’s largest cleanliness survey, launched on January 4 and will continue till March 10. The Survekshan will assess all the 4,041 towns in the country covering more than 40 crore urban population in the country. While each and every city is working towards achieving the title of India’s cleanest city, here are the Top 5 things that Indore is doing for its title:

1. Third Bin: A Push For Waste Segregation

While the rest of India is trying to push for two bin waste segregation where dry waste is disposed of in blue color dustbins and wet waste in green color dustbins, Indore introduced a third bin for hazardous sanitary waste. All the sanitary waste like diapers, sanitary napkins, medicines is disposed of in a different dustbin.

Earlier sanitary waste was mixed with wet waste which made wet waste a bit hazardous. But because of the third bin, 4 metric tonnes of sanitary waste is collected separately on a daily basis, which is then sent for bio medical treatment, says Asad Warsi, Swachh Bharat Mission Consultant.

2. Bulk Generators Support City Pep Up Its Swachh Quotient

Indore has a total of 234 bulk generators which include schools, hospitals, marriage halls, hotels and restaurants. Together they generate 75 metric tonnes of waste on a daily basis. Along with this, 76 Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Indore generate 50 metric tonnes of waste daily. Not only this, a total of 600 gardens also contributes to city’s waste, but IMC has a way and a system to manage the humongous amount of waste generated by all of them.

“Indore city generate 1100 metric tonnes of waste per day and we cannot leave this enormous amount of waste just like that. To manage the waste, a decentralised waste treatment system exists at each and every hospital, school, RWA, and other such places which make waste treatment possible at source only. The waste which is not treated goes to centralised waste treatment system handled by IMC and there it is taken care of”, says Mr Asad Warsi.

Also Read: This Independence Day, India’s Cleanest City Targets 100% Waste-To-Compost In Hotels, Marriage Halls

3. Mandis Help City Generate CNG Out Of Waste

Fruit and vegetable mandis in the city generates 20 metric tonnes of waste, but none of the waste end up at landfill sites. A bio-mechanisation plant is installed in the market which ends up generating three types of gases – Methane, Carbon dioxide (CO2), and Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). Methane is separated, cleaned, purified and compressed and then converted into bio CNG which can fuel 20-25 buses every day.

IMC is the only corporation in the country which has developed such a system. The process of gas generation is operational, but filling of gas in buses has not yet commenced, says Mr Asad.

Along with this, waste generated in mandis is also used for making compost.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2017: Here’s How India’s Cleanest City, Indore Is Adopting The ‘Clean, Segregate, Compost’ Mantra

4. Initiatives Taken To Sustain ODF Tag

The Indore Municipal Corporation conducted a speedy and effective toilet building campaign all across the city and achieved open defection free (ODF) tag in January 2017. To sustain the ODF tag and to pep up its game in sanitation, City Corporation went beyond their original toilet construction target and built additional community and public toilets. They have also constructed 300 roadside urinals, 90% of which are both male and female unlike usual roadside urinals which are only for males. To ensure cleanliness, toilets are cleaned four times a day. Along with this, a public feedback system has been installed in all the public toilets.

Also Read: Indore’s Swachh Mantra: ‘Roko Aur Toko’ Whenever You See People Defecating In Open

Explaining the public feedback system and the helpline run by the corporation, Mr Asad says,

While pressing the green button will mean that a toilet is clean, orange will send a message that the condition of the toilet is satisfactory and red button will indicate the poor condition of the toilet. Also, if someone lodges a complaint, it will be redressed within 24 hours. And until the complainant sends a message or calls and tells that yes, the problem has been resolved, we will not consider that the problem has been resolved.

Indore has made toilet access easier for the common people by mapping them on google maps. With the help of google toilet locator or by simply feeding ‘swachh public toilet’ in the search engine, an individual can get the information of all the toilets located near his location along with the ratings of every toilet.

5. Spot Fine On Spitting, Defecating And Urinating In Open

In a good move, IMC has started fining people for defecating, urinating and spitting in public places. The corporation has also decided to levy fines on usage of plastic and dog shitting in public places. In order to discourage the habit of spitting in public places, the municipal corporation has decided to publicly shame people. If anyone is caught dirtying the roads and walls by spitting then his/her name will be broadcasted on the radio or will be mentioned in the local newspaper. For this, the IMC has appointed a special team who will visit and inspect highly prone areas. They will first ask the names of the violators and send it to the local newspaper or radio station. A fine of Rs. 200 or more will be levied on habitual offenders.

We also levied a fine on a petrol pump for not having a toilet at their premises. Within 15 days of fining, toilets were built and were made functional for public, says Mr Asad.

Also Read: Your Name Will Be Aired On Radio Or Covered In Newspaper If You Spit On Roads In India’s Cleanest City

According to Swachh Survekshan Survey 2016, cities of Madhya Pradesh like Indore, Bhopal and Gwalior were ranked as cities that have potential to lead the pack. These cities improved their ranking drastically to top the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2017 at number one and two spots, respectively. And now, Indore, is leaving no stone unturned to grab the title of India’s Cleanest City, again.