Here is how Indore became the cleanest city in India

The credit for the top slot goes to Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) that has led a series of initiatives towards a push for cleanliness last year. Until one year ago, the collection and disposal of solid waste of Indore city was contracted to a private company, A2Z, by the IMC — this contract was terminated upon unsatisfactory performance, says Santosh Tagore, IMC Deputy Commissioner of Indore. The task was then taken up by the Nagar Nigam itself with fresh strategies drawn out. Motivating people, mobilizing new routes for garbage-collecting tipper vehicles and building public urinals and toilets to stop open defecation was a big part of their new approach.

Tagore explains that the waste management strategy constructed was to prepare the routes of municipality garbage disposal vehicles such that they now directly collect waste — dry and wet separated — from the households. The idea was to reduce third party disposals. NGOs were involved and had a big by-role to play in going door-to-door to make people aware about handing over their garbage directly to the municipality vehicles for a monthly charge of Rs 60 per household, instead of disposing it openly or in one of large garbage bins within the city.

The NGOs also did the groundwork for identifying areas in the city in need of urinals and toilets, the latter to tackle the challenge of open defecation. “Efforts were made to identify individual households, number of families and their requirements, especially in slums and the areas near the Railway line, for the provision of single-household or community toilets — which were constructed and are now being used”, says Tagore. In other cases, paid toilets and modular temporary toilets have been brought in to ameliorate the lack.

The drive for providing toilet facilities was accompanied by motivation from “dabba gangs” of people who would go around neighborhoods and encourage others to build toilets in their houses and stop defecating in open.

Tagore credits the achievements of these initiatives to their overall success in mobilizing public participation, regardless of people’s political affiliations. Feeling positive about being recognised with a #1 rank this year, he feels this would only serve as a further encouragement to continue improving.