Why Indore is best city in INDIA

 I did my Internship in Indore and I feel it’s the best city in India.

Indore has been crowned the cleanest city in the country for the fourth time in a row this year. The single most important reason for Indore bagging this title is the combined efforts of the city’s people, its public representatives and government officials. Indore’s journey is inspiring, and the steps it took are now being followed by many cities in India and across the globe.

When Indore started working towards this in 2016, it had many challenges to face. Municipal waste management systems and processes were not in place, and infrastructure was negligible. There were no material recovery facilities, transfer stations and processing units. Composting facilities were non-operational.

The unorganised trenching grounds had over 13 lakh tons of legacy waste, which were causing methane-induced fires, bad odour, and attracted disease-causing insects. Only about 5 per cent of the city saw door-to-door waste collection, with no source segregation. Unorganised collection, transportation and dumping of faecal sludge was also rampant.

The city had to emerge out of this undesirable situation, which required support and cooperation of citizens and communities. The municipal and sanitation workers weren’t motivated and organised to perform at their optimum capacity. This was due to lack of monitoring mechanisms and an ineffective citizen complaint redressal system.

Apart from this, there was no political awareness to achieve cleanliness goals. There was also no awareness about solid waste management processes in local media, as well as among the local administration and resident welfare associations (RWAs).