An IAS officer, with sheer will & public support, cleared 13 lakh metric tonnes of garbage in Indore

Indore clears 13 lakh metric tonnes of waste from the 100 acre Devguradiya dumping ground in six months. Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Singh helped clear a small hill of garbage that was dumped on the trenching ground in Indore.

The land cleared is worth ₹400 crore and has been used as the dumping ground for many years, the waste created toxic fumes and often fires. The most wonderful aspect of this story is that not only did the IAS officer fastrack the entire process and was successful in clearing 13 Lakh metric tonnes in merely six months, while his predecessors cleared 2 lakh tonnes in two years, he also did it in a cost effective manner.

Asheesh Singh made clearing the 100 acre ground worth ₹400 crore, cost as less as ₹10 crores, while the Municipal Corporation earlier was talking of roping in private contractors that would leave the state with a bill of ₹65 crores.

In an interview Asheesh had mentioned that he decided to rent out the machinery required to clear the waste and operate with the existing resources of the Municipal Corporation. The people worked tirelessly in two shifts and only then were they able to finish the herculean task in six months.

He also made it possible for Indore to adopt bio-mining, The process of segregating usable soil and waste materials like plastic, paper or cloth that can be recycled. Because of this, tonnes of recyclables were salvaged and upcycled; rubble found in the waste was used in the construction of new buildings, polythene was sent to cement plants and used in road construction and best of all? The dry plastic waste is going to be used to produce 3-4 thousand litres of diesel everyday!

Now the trenching ground is expected to be converted into either a lush garden or a sprawling golf course.

Indore for long has been waging war against pollution and it has been doing so with the help of the entire community. It is not often seen that people, government and authorities come together collectively as a community and decide to focus on a shared goal, but the swachh inspection has made it a reality in Indore. The kind of dedication people of Indore have shown for cleanliness and the cleanliness drive is inspiring.

The magnitude of these efforts can be understood by looking at the numbers, Indore has been crowned the cleanest city twice in the 2017 and 2018 swachhta survekshan and is yet again leading in the 2019 survey. Over 40,000 houses in Indore have adopted composting, the Municipal Corporation is sending trucks to collect garbage from every household and working tirelessly to make people aware about waste segregation, recycling and living a sustainable life. Common areas like public toilets and parks are being beautified and people have voluntarily taken to the streets to help the government and authorities in changing the face of their city.

Let’s hope Indore and the people in Indore keep setting cleanliness and sustainability goals for the entire country.