Deemed as the “cleanest city” in India, Indore is back in the highlights again after being declared as the first “Water Plus” city in the country.
The Government announced Indore as the First Water Plus city on Wednesday under the Swachh Survekshan 2021. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to Twitter and lauded the remarkable city of Madhya Pradesh for setting this example for India following through its “determination and dedication towards cleanliness.”
What is Swachh Survekshan?
Swachh Survekshan was launched as a part of Swachh Bharat Mission. Conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs since 2016, it is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns in India.
Swachh Survekshan is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey which has been instrumental in fostering a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens and towards creating cleaner cities.
The primary objective of Swachh Survekshans is to encourage large scale citizen participation while creating awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of collective efforts towards making towns and cities better places to reside in.
What is a Water Plus city?
As per the protocols of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, a city can be declared as Water Plus provided, all wastewater released from households, commercial establishments etc. is treated to a satisfactory level before releasing the treated wastewater to the environment.
In order to become a Water Plus City, it must be ensured that the dirty water from the city does not go into any river or drain.
Secondly, all public toilets in the city must be connected to sewer lines and must be cleaned. And finally, 30 per cent of the city’s sewer water has to be recycled and reused.
Subsequently, a Water Plus city certificate is allocated to a city for maintaining cleanliness in rivers and drains under its administration.
The Water PLUS protocol provided by the government aims to provide a guideline for cities and towns to ensure that no untreated wastewater is released into the environment thereby enabling sustainability of the sanitation value chain.
The focus of this mission goes parallel with the Government’s efforts towards conservation and reuse of water under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sanitation.
WhatsApp us