By Business India Editorial

Madhya Preadesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted the news and congratulated the residents of the city. “Indore has been an example for the whole nation for its determination and dedication towards cleanliness. May it continue to bring glory to the state”.

Declared the first ‘Water Plus’ city in India under Swachh Survekshan 2021, Indore has also retained its position as the cleanest city in the country for the fourth consecutive time. Swachh Survekshan, an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India, was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission. It was awarded for maintaining cleanliness in rivers and drains.

The protocol and toolkit by the Union ministry for housing & urban affairs say that a city can be declared ‘Water Plus’ only if the wastewater released from houses and commercial establishments is treated to a satisfactory level before released to a public space. It is hard work and requires efforts from many civic departments and sanitary workers. 

“According to the guidelines of Water Plus Protocol of Swachh Survekshan, 1,746 public and 5,624 domestic sewer outfalls in 25 small and big nullahs were tapped by the Indore Municipal Corporation,” informs Manish Singh, district collector, Indore. “It also freed the city’s Kanh and Saraswati rivers from sewer lines.”

Seven sewerage treatment plants have been built in the city and about 110 million litres per day of treated water from them are being used, says Pratibha Pal, municipal commissioner, Indore. “According to the guidelines of Water Plus Protocol, 147 special types of urinals were constructed in the city. Besides, the work of cleaning ponds, wells and all water bodies has also been done,” she adds.

Swachh Bharat Survekshan was introduced as part of Swachh Bharat Mission to encourage the officials and residents to take part in an inter-city competition to be selected the ‘cleanest city’ in the country. The parameters to become the cleanest city are: daily sweeping of roads and streets to ensure zero spread of solid waste, an effective drainage system coupled with water harvesting facilities, total recycling of treated sewage, preferably for irrigation, and efficient solid waste management system.

It is the reward for “our hard-working sanitary workers, aware citizens and public representatives of Indore,” says Pal. Gujarat’s Surat bagged the second spot, Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai ranked third and Varanasi was the adjudged the ‘best Ganga town’ in the cleanliness survey.

The survey ranked 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 92 Ganga towns, which account for a population of about 18.7 million people in the country.  A total of 19 million citizens across 4,242 cities of the country participated in the survey held by the ministry for housing & urban affairs. It was the fifth edition of the survey, which was introduced in January 2016. In the first edition of the survey, Mysuru had come first.