It brought Indoris, immense joy and an overwhelming sense of pride when the Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi said, “Other cities of the country should take inspiration from Indore”. A few years ago, just like any other densely populated city of India, there used to be mountains of garbage in different places of Indore. The only way to dispose-off the wastes used to be the burning of garbage. But look at this city now! There is a complete makeover. Not only the mountains of garbage have vanished, but the waste lying in and around the garbage-bins on the streets of the city are nowhere to be found.
The challenge of cleanliness campaign was accepted by the people of Indore under the guidance of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan and made it successful in the form of constructive public cooperation with the blessings of Devi Ahilya, the Godmother of the people of this beautiful city.
Catalysts of Indore’s Success- People, Safai-Mitra and their strong will
Yes, our Indore is the cleanest city of India and we, the people of this beloved city take pride in saying this again and again. We collect dry waste, wet waste, electronic waste, organic waste, flowers, leaves and plastic waste separately in the sanitation vehicle every morning with our 8,500 safai-mitra (sanitary workers). Strict steps like ban on polythene have been taken, segregation of six types of wastes and implementation of the famous 3R model is being carried out. This has bagged Indore the award for the cleanest city of India for the sixth consecutive year and a rating of 7 stars in the national cleanliness survey. In terms of cleanliness, Indore has improved year after year, but to add icing on the cake, Indore has brought to reality, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s concept of Waste to Wealth.
Waste to Wealth
The bio-CNG plant that runs on the wet waste collected from the city is the focal point of Corporation’s waste disposal procedure. It can produce 10 tonnes of organic manure and 17,000 to 18,000 kg of Bio-CNG. Around 40 municipal buses are running on this bio-CNG, which is around $5 less expensive than regular CNG. City’s Municipal Corporation is earning 1.53 crore per year from the dry waste segregation plant. 2.53 crore per year from the wet waste Bio-CNG plant, in addition to this, the corporation has earned 9 crore by selling carbon credits in 2 years. Thus, Indore is earning around 13-14 crores annually from waste-management only. Sewage generated in the city too is treated at three special plants and reused at 200 public gardens, farms and for construction activities.