Chhattishgarh – The Cleanest state in the country

Photo Credits: Express News Service

The Chhattisgarh government has successfully rolled over ‘Clean India Mission’ with the collaborative efforts with public in the state and the officials, which keeps up to its position as the cleanest state in India.

In the world’s largest sanitation survey, the perseverance, discipline and focus of the Chhattisgarh government has backed it as India’s ‘Cleanest State’ consecutively for 2019 and 2020, with the driving spirit of Swachch Bharat Mission, by the surveys conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The Ambikapur Model for the Cleanest State

Earlier, Chhattisgarh had introduced “Mission Clean City”, which was a trial project modeled for the town Ambikapur, which was on judgement for the country’s cleanest city. The same model, was incorporated across the state, which was based on low-cost, sustainable, and a decentralised mechanism revolving around three principles of reducing, recycling, and reusing (3-R) of waste.

The key was the persistent community participation of citizens and self-help groups (SHGs), which supported absolute source segregation and door to door waste collection. Around 1,650 tonnes of wastes have been generated in the urban areas on a a daily basis, which is managed by the urban local bodies (ULBs).

Over the 164 ULBs in the state, more than 9,000 women are involved as SHGs doing door-to-door collection of segregated waste on 2640 tricycles, 383 mini tipper vehicles and 98 e-rickshaws. Regarding the model followed, Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel stated, “Sustainable and productive waste management model enable Chhattisgarh to secure cleanest state tag by adopting the innovative methods.

The model ensured citizen participation and livelihood promotion. Credit equally goes to swachta warriors and sanitation team.”

The total funding collaborated by the Centre, state and ULB amounts to Rs 222 crore for the capital cost of mission for being the ‘cleanest’, which is four times cost-efficient than conventional waste to energy model.

Chhattisgarh now plans a virtual mass campaign as “Fir Banega No-1 Chhattisgarh” for the forthcoming year.