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Chhattisgarh tops in cleanliness for 3rd consecutive year
Officials in Chhattisgarh said that more than 10,000 women played a very big role in maintaining cleanliness in the state
Chhattisgarh on Saturday was adjudged the “cleanest state” in the country for the third consecutive year in the Swachh Survekshan 2021, the Central government’s annual cleanliness survey to promote sanitation under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Chhattisgarh was also awarded the “best state” prize in Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge 2021.
The survey is done through third party assessment under various parameters such as citizens’ feedback on door-to-door garbage collection, scientific disposal of waste, open defecation free city and garbage free city etc. On the basis of the assessment, states and cities are ranked.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi and said that the credit goes to 2.5 crore people of the state.
“I would especially like to give credit to the women of the state, who have created a new culture of cleanliness from cities to villages,”Baghel said.
“Chhattisgarh is the only state where more than 9,000 cleanliness ‘didis’ are collecting 1,600 tonnes of wet and dry waste from houses and scientifically disposing them off. The Centre has also declared Chhattisgarh as the first ODF++ state of the country,” a press note issued by the public relation department stated.
According to the urban affairs ministry, ODF++ recognition is achieved if at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating and/or urinating in the open, all community and public toilets are functional and well maintained, and faecal sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated, with no discharging and/or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open areas.
Officials in Chhattisgarh said that more than 10,000 women played a very big role in maintaining cleanliness in the state.
“In more than 7,500 Gauthans of villages, about 5,000 self-help groups are engaged in improving the environment through various activities. The state government took the initiative of connecting the cleanliness campaign with the flagship Narva-Garwa-Ghurva-Bari program.
The state emphasised on the ban on single use plastic, worked on the basis of 6-R Policy to encourage rethink, reuse, recycle, repair, reduce, refuge, which reduced the amount of new waste generation, built community and public toilets,faecal sludge treatment plants,” said a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
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Swachhata Didis went door-to-door and trained people to keep wet and dry waste separately. A toll free number 1100 was set up for addressing sanitation related complaints within 24 hours and all public and community toilets were linked to Google which could be located with a simple search on smartphones, the official added.
Alarmelmangai D, secretary, Urban Administration and Development Department also singled out the SHG workers for the achievement.
“...It is their dedicated hard work and efforts which differentiates us from the other competitive states, time and again we have proved that the human touch can outperform any mechanised model and the Chhattisgarh model of decentralised waste management operated by 10,000 female SHG workers has proved it right, again for the consecutive third time in a row,” the secretary said.
“As a next step will be to move forward in preparing vermi-compost from cow dung for making the zero-landfill model in the solid waste sector,” said another senior official.
