Why is Indore ranked the cleanest city in India year after year?

Every morning, this largest and the most populous city of Madhya Pradesh wakes up to the soothing voice of singer Shaan. The vans that collect garbage trudge up to each house at their designated time playing Shaan’s songs that are written especially for the city. “Songs motivate people, but at the end of the day, a job has to be done. Corporators, local politicians, bureaucrats and the people of Indore have come together to make Indore the cleanest city of India,” says the iconic Bollywood singer. ALSO LISTEN: Why India needs better waste management to fight pollution, diseaseIndore has made an unimaginable turnaround from being one of India’s many dirty cities. From ranking a low 25th in 2015 in the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ conducted by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs, India’s ‘mini Mumbai’ jumped to rank first the very next year. And it has retained its position for six years in a row.“I’ve been performing in Indore for almost 20-25 years. I’ve seen open defecation just outside the airport in the mornings. I used to dread taking flights because of the stink. The area around the hotel would stink. There were pigs loitering about. From there, the city has risen. They've done a commendable job. And it’s not a one-year affair. It’s a part of people’s system and that’s why every year the city gets the award,” says Shaan. Residents take pride in being part of the system. One of them is 75-year-old Sushil Doshi, India’s first Hindi cricket commentator. His prolific one-liners and ball-by-ball account from the field kept the entire country glued to the radio for decades. Doshi tells us that the people of Indore have understood the importance of keeping their city clean. “I give most of the credit to the people of Indore for following the norms of the government. This is the first time when the government, people and the politicians are on the same page. That's the beauty of Indore,” he says. How did Indore clean itself up, that too without a single dustbin in the entire city? People have inculcated six habits that are doing wonders — segregating waste, composting, minimising plastic use, using dustbins inside cars to avoid littering roads, making children aware, and cleaning up after every community function. A few also practise something unique. A traditional Hindu marriage is solemnised by seven pledges, but many families have now added an eighth pledge. Newly-weds make a cleanliness vow, promising each other to keep their homes clean.Surprised this is in India? This is a street in India's cleanest city, Indore. (Photo: Pravin Barnale)People of the city give the credit of the change to Manish Singh who took charge as the Municipal Commissioner in 2015. Then, garbage was being dumped in huge containers kept at different corners of the city. A privately contracted company would collect waste, and at times it wouldn’t.The new commissioner ordered the removal of all such dustbins. Households were requested to segregate wet waste and liquid waste. Safai Mitras were sent to each house to collect these separately. A fine was imposed on those who did not follow the new rule. Soon, the categories of waste segregation were increased. And now it’s done in six categories. These are: Dry waste, that includes paper, cardboard and packaging material; Wet waste such as fruit and vegetable peels; Plastic waste; Electronic waste like old and broken appliances and gadgets; Domestic sanitary waste such as sanitary napkins and diapers; and Domestic hazardous waste such as acids, pesticides and batteries.Municipal vans have been specially designed to carry the waste separately. These vans reach a transfer station where dry waste is again segregated into categories such as paper, rubber, aluminium, steel and glass. All these are purchased by firms that have a recycling system in place.What happens to the wet waste? Believe it or not, it now fuels all the buses in the city. Indore Municipal Corporation has set up a plant that converts wet waste to Bio-CNG. This is Rs 5 cheaper than commercial CNG. And the waste produces so much Bio-CNG that the municipal corporation has to sell it, thus making earnings from it.Singh says when the work began, the corporation had to take some difficult steps, encroachment removal being one of them. When resistance came from a few politicians, work was stopped. They were convinced about its importance and work was started thereafter.“There are two important USPs of Indore solid waste management. First is a perfected door-to-door collection mechanism in which municipal solid waste is collected from every household or commercial non-residential establishment. Second, the quality of segregation is 99.5% pure. This purity of segregated solid waste is unachievable even in European cities. A survey has been done for the bio-CNG plant in which wet waste is converted into bio CNG. German experts have found the quality of wet waste to be more than 99% pure. They said that even in Europe, 2 to 2.5% impurity is found,” says Singh.The city also has an efficient plant that segregates dry waste into 13 categories. There are later sent for recycling, thus creating a circular economy, says Singh. Swati Singh Sambyal, who is an independent circular economy expert, gives the stats. “Indore generates 530 tons of wet waste, 460 tons of dry waste, 14 tons of plastic, 2.5 tons of e-waste, 11 tons of sanitary waste and 3.5 tons of hazardous waste. The city converts wet waste to biogas called methan, which is further converted to compressed natural gas. This is unique because it has replaced fossil fuel. This is also being experimented in Chennai. Other cities should also explore this option. Delhi, for instance, should definitely explore this,” she says. Himanshu Rai is the director of Indian Institute of Management-Indore and has been living in the city for the past four years. He says residents take pride in the fact that they are part of a system of converting waste to wealth. It’s the sense of ownership that sets them apart. “Let me tell you one thing, if waste is not segregated at the household level, then no matter what techniques you deploy, it's not going to work,” he says. He believes there are two aspects of cleanliness: technical and behavioural. The technical aspect involves waste segregation. “It was a victory for Indore when its people accepted the concept of Jan Bhagidari,” he says. The behavioural aspect can be active and passive. The passive aspect involves making a change in one’s own behaviour and responsibly disposing of waste at home and outside. The active aspect involves ensuring that the surroundings are kept clean. “For instance, when I see someone littering, I stop, educate and counsel that person,” says Himanshu.Besides Indore, a few more cities of India are rising from the ashes. Surat in Gujarat stood second this year for the third consecutive time in the Swachh Survekshan Survey. It has worked exceptionally well in both solid and liquid waste management. Residents of Surat never fail to recall the work on cleanliness done in 1995 when the city was devastated by pneumonic plague. S R Rao, who was then its municipal commissioner used the opportunity to clean up the commercial city. He called the operation AC to DC, meaning getting officers out of their AC offices to fulfil their DCs, short for daily chores.In Karnataka, Mysuru has been working to turn itself into a zero-waste city. It now has one the country’s best drainage system. Kakinada, a coastal town in Andhra Pradesh, has digitised its sanitation work. It intensively monitors the workforce, vehicles and machines using technologies.Karad, a small city in Maharashtra’s Satara district now segregates 100 per cent of its sanitary and biomedical waste. Similarly, Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur, India’s first planned industrial city, is deftly managing its e-waste.Clearly, these cities have cracked the cleanliness code. Their exemplary work restores hope in residents of other bigger and smaller cities who live amid overflowing dustbins and landfill mountains. Audio Production: Prateek Kapoor