AIILSG assisting municipal corporations improve SWM, become garbage-free with community participation

All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) is conducting IEC (Information, Education & Communication) activities under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM - U) in Jammu, Srinagar, Dehradun and Pimpri-Chinchwad. These activities were initiated by the AIILSG in consultation with respective Municipal Corporations. The activities being undertaken in the projects are in line with the vision of SBM (U), which is to make all Indian cities open defecation free and garbage-free

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he AIILSG conducted various IEC activities in Jammu under SBM-U, in consultation with the Jammu Municipal Corporation. These activities were initiated in the begining of October 2020.

Jammu

Various activities for community awareness are being conducted in the city. Some are mentioned below.

AIILSG team, in collaboration with Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) organised a ‘Run for Cleanliness’ Marathon event on August 12, 2021, under SBM to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at MA Stadium, Jammu. The marathon started at 7 AM and participants had to cover the distance between MA Stadium and Police headquarters (start and back to MA Stadium). The event was attended by Mayor of Jammu, Chandermohan Gupta; Raghav Langar, Divisional commissioner, JMC; Deputy Mayor of Jammu, Purnima Sharma; Deputy Commissioner of Jammu, Anshul Garg; Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu; Pankaj Gupta, Joint Commissioner, JMC; Hitesh Gupta, Additional CEO, Jammu Smart City; Sudhir Bali, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, JMC; and Dr Sanjogita Soodan, Health Officer.

To discourage the use of plastic/polythene and to completely stop usage of single use plastic in the city, the JMC launched a comprehensive campaign named “Bye - Bye Plastic #JammuAgainstPlastic”. People were asked to suggest names for the campaign, and more than 150 suggestions were received by the JMC. Under the initiative, kiosks were installed in the prominent areas of Jammu City, which worked as exchange points for singleuse plastic with that of cloth/jute bag. People were encouraged to use jute/cloth bag for carrying daily goods. Under the campaign, 2.3 quintals of plastic was received by the JMC within a month and 6834 jute/cotton bags were provided in return to local citizens. The aim is to distribute 1 lakh plus bags all over the city. Looking at the successful efforts of JMC, various organisations eventually stepped up to contribute to the campaign. One of them was “Sparkle Women’s Club” which donated 1000 bags to JMC for the ongoing campaign “Bye - Bye Plastic”.

JMC and AIILSG organised three different events consecutively under “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” initiative in September 2021. “Kachra Alag Karo Amrit Diwas” was organised on September 27, 2021. The objective was to sensitise people about the concept of door-to-door segregation in all 75 wards of the city. ‘Sarvajanik Sauchalaya Safai Jan Bhagidari Amrit Utsav’ was celebrated on September 29, 2021. In this, a training session was conducted by the JMC and AIILSG team where the community toilet/public toilet (CT/PT) caretakers were trained regarding an application designed for their work.

Swachh Survekshan Ranking

City SS 2019 SS 2021

Jammu

Dehradun 318

384

Pimpri-Chinchwad 52

Srinagar 357 169

82

19

42 Dehradun

In order to sensitise people of Dehradun regarding cleanliness and its importance, the AIILSG team conducted IEC activities in the city. The team conducted awareness programme amongst citizens about ‘Vote for your city’ application and assisted them in voting through the platform. Awareness campaigns were organised in the city about segregation of waste at individual households, on maintaining open defecation free status of the city, and on making Dehradun a

Mohalla Sabha in PCMC region for awareness on waste segregation

garbage free city. The team also conducted a drive on public health awareness, which aimed to discuss how keeping the city clean by avoiding usage of plastic, managing waste, etc can be an important step towards good health of residents.

AIILSG in collaboration with Dehradun Municipal Corporation launched a plastic free campaign on March 26, 2022. A drive was also conducted where plastic was collected from schools across the city. In April 2022, Dehradun Nagar Nigam started a special cleanliness drive named ‘Vishesh Safai Abhiyaan’, wherein all the major roads, streets and drains of the city were cleaned.

Pimpri-Chinchwad

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has empaneled AIILSG for Solid waste Management IEC project in B Zone. It consists of a total 84857 households, 3030 shops with a population of 2,34,860.

Assisting PCMC

AIILSG IEC Team supports the PCMC for ensuring the implementation of all solid waste management (SWM) protocols at household and ward level and to work towards knowledge enhancement of the community on SWM. The team is promoting best practices of SWM among citizens and creating awareness about Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban. Various monthly thematic activities are also organised by the AIILSG team as per Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban guidelines and recommendations. An effective grievance redressal and citizen feedback system has also been established.

Sensitising community through IEC activities

The team has visited more than 38,000 households for IEC awareness which improved the percentage of waste segregation in the area from 8 per cent to 86 per cent within four months. Moreover, 15 rallies and 24 street plays were conducted by the PCMC and AIILSG team and more than 95 awareness activities were conducted in the region. The team surveyed 987 societies more than 3200 commercial establishments for IEC. Planned activities

In addition to aforementioned activities, the team is also planning to conduct extensive awareness drives with themes pertaining to a mix of significant Cultural Events (World Water Day, Festivals etc.), Segregation, Home composting, and others. The team will plan awareness drives and surveys regarding construction and demolition (C&D) waste management and will assist the PCMC on improper disposal of C&D waste in the city.

Way forward

The project aims to make the city garbage-free with maximum participation from citizens. Through the project, the team will try to convince maximum citizens for home composting and for effective implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The team will aim to conduct effective IEC activities and campaigns around cleanliness in the city so as to improve PCMC’s performance in Garbage-free city, Open defecation free city and Swachh Survekshan, 2022, certifications.

Srinagar

In order to eradicate the menace of plastic pollution from Srinagar, the AIILSG has designed an exclusive Anti-Polythene Campaign popularly known as #The 6R Campaign for the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). In addition to 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) component of plastic waste management, the team has suggested three more Rs (Remove, Refuse and Report) to it. Therefore, it has been renamed 6R Campaign.

As part of the 6R Campaign, the SMC has taken following initiatives for community awareness: ♦ Awareness cum control programs through Anti-

Polythene Check Posts: The Anti-Polythene Squad in the canopy sensitises the public to not carry polythene bags beyond the limits of check posts. ♦ Daily Awareness through Print and Electronic

Media/Hoardings: Awareness program on Radio,

TV, Newspaper and social media sites to sensitise people to avoid the use of single use plastics (SUPs). 65 Hoardings with different messages on

SUPs have been installed at public places. ♦ Awareness through Sundays for Srinagar: One day program for removing SUPs from hotspots is being conducted every week at famous tourist spots, water bodies, bye passes etc., to inculcate behavioural inertia among citizens. ♦ Awareness through Market Associations: Market associations in commercial areas are being sensitised about the polythene and its related disadvantages. ♦ Awareness program conducted through traditional songs/Jingles (recorded by Ajaz Khan, Srinagar).