New Delhi: Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, has retained its title as India’s cleanest city for the seventh consecutive year, according to the results of the Union government’s annual cleanliness survey announced on Thursday. The city shared the top spot with Surat in Gujarat, which also scored high marks in the survey based on the theme ‘Waste to Wealth’.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav received the award for the cleanest city from President Droupadi Murmu at a function in New Delhi, which was also attended by state urban administration minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and Indore civic chief Harshika Singh.
Yadav congratulated the people of Indore for their remarkable achievement and said that cleanliness has become a part of their thought process. He also praised the conservancy workers for their hard work and dedication and urged them to keep up the good work. Many of them were seen celebrating by beating drums and distributing sweets.
Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava dedicated the victory to Lord Ram and said that the city has become a model not only for India but also for the world with regard to cleanliness. He said that the civic body had coined the slogan ‘Indore will touch seventh sky of cleanliness’ and played a song based on it to motivate the citizens and the workers.
Indore Scores High On Waste Management, Disposal
The survey, which saw a tough competition among more than 4,400 cities in different categories, carried a total of 9,500 marks. Indore secured 4,709.40 marks out of 4,830 under ‘Service Level Progress’ for segregated collection, processing and disposal of different types of waste, Indore Municipal Corporation’s (IMC) consultant for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Amit Dubey, told PTI.
He said that the city has developed a sustainable system of garbage collection, processing and disposal, which is the basis of its consecutive success in the National Cleanliness Survey. He added that the city has also reduced its waste generation by banning single-use plastic and promoting the ‘3 R’ (reduce, reuse and recycle) centres, cloth bags and utensil ‘banks’, parks developed using reusable things out of waste materials and home composting units.
The IMC officials said that the waste from 4.65 lakh households and 70,543 commercial establishments is systematically sorted at the primary source and processed and disposed of at different plants in the city. They said that nearly 692 tonnes of wet waste, 683 tonnes of dry waste and 179 tonnes of plastic waste are collected every day in the city under different categories.
They also said that around 850 specially-designed vehicles are run across the city having different compartments for bio-waste items like diapers and sanitary napkins. The waste from households in the city is collected after segregation under six categories at the doorsteps.
Indore Produces Bio-CNG, Organic Fertilisers
One of the innovative initiatives of the city is the ‘Gobar-Dhan’ plant, which is being run by a company under public-private partnership (PPP) on 15 acres of land at Devguradiya trenching ground in the city. The plant has the capacity to produce 17,000 to 18,000 kg of bio-CNG and 100 tonnes of organic fertilisers by processing 550 tonnes of wet waste (like fruits, vegetables and raw meat waste) every day, the officials said.
The bio-CNG produced at this plant is used to run 110 city buses, with the fuel being sold to the municipal corporation for Rs 5 per kilogram less than the prevailing market rate, they said. This not only reduces the dependence on fossil fuels but also helps in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and improving the air quality of the city.
The organic fertilisers produced at the plant are also sold to the farmers at a subsidised rate, which helps in enhancing the soil fertility and crop productivity. The plant also generates employment opportunities for the local people, especially the women and the youth, who are involved in various stages of the waste management process.