Indore, Nov 11 Over 300 trees are growing on 2.2 acres of land in Depalpur town in the district where stinking piles of 1,250 tons of garbage once stood.
With the help of the Indore Municipal Corporation, the waste was scientifically disposed of over the past year, officials said.
Indore, ranked the cleanest city in the country for the past eight years, was placed in a different category this time. It secured the second position in the ‘Mentor City’ category along with its partner town Depalpur under the new ‘Clean City Pairs’ initiative.
Ahmedabad secured the top position along with its partner town Sanand, while Tirupati bagged the third spot with its partner Kuppam.
Depalpur, with a population of around 20,000, is located 40 km from Indore. Agriculture is the primary occupation of the local people.
Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava noted that Depalpur had ranked 1,710 among urban areas in the cleanliness survey last year.
“Under Indore’s guidance, Depalpur’s sanitation landscape has completely changed,” he said.
Officials said that the campaign to transform Depalpur’s sanitation system began with the implementation of waste segregation at source.
Amit Dubey, Indore Municipal Corporation’s advisor for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, said, “A system of four dustbins has been implemented in all 15 wards of Depalpur. Garbage is collected in four categories of wet and dry waste. This system allows scientific waste processing and recycling.”
About seven tonnes of waste is processed daily in Depalpur now.
According to Dubey, the town produces 2.1 tonnes of organic fertiliser daily from wet waste, while 4.7 tonnes of dry waste is sorted and sent for recycling or used as fuel in cement factories.
According to officials, a “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” waste management campaign is also being implemented. Old clothes, books and other items are collected and distributed to those in need.
Flowers and garlands offered by devotees in temples are collected and used to prepare organic fertiliser.
More than 300 stray animals have been sent to a cowshed in Hatod to keep the town’s streets and markets clean, officials said.
Indore city too witnessed some new initiatives this year.
Cleanliness competition was promoted across localities of Indore through the ‘Swachh Ward Ranking’ drive, while 29 major markets were converted into ‘Zero Waste Markets’, officials said.
The civic body developed 15 ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ centres, introduced Internet of Things-based toilet monitoring, expanded the capacity of its bio-CNG plant, and rolled out a green waste pellet unit.
(PTI News)
