I ndore has bagged the clean-city tag in Swachh Survekshanan four times, and one has to only look at how the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has transformed its vegetable markets into clean shopping areas to know what got the city up there.
The IMC worked on a four-pronged strategy: Creative Awareness, Continual Training, Sustained Engagement and Regular Enforcement.
Non governmental organisations empanelled by the IMC to drive the campaign, especially the source-segregation part of it, in the markets and commercial areas say that the campaign was extremely successful in that it got vendors to have a sense of ownership about the place they were conducting their businesses from.
One of the first things these agencies did towards winning the confidence of vendors was to ensure they got a clean place every day when they returned to do business.
IMC has more than 80 commercial areas, with eight to 10 vegetable markets. All the shop owners, which included pushcart vendors, had to compulsorily invest in a bin. The capacity of the bin ranged from 12 litres onwards, depending on the waste the shop generated. No outlet in the vicinity was allowed to sell polythene bags.
Fighting plastic pollution
“ Thela banks (shops selling cloth bags) were set up at three to four markets where shoppers who were not carrying their own bags can buy them. Sometimes we would bring a women’s self-help group to sit with a stitching machine at these shops and people could upcycle their old torn clothes into shopping bags,” says Captain Sunpreet, director Human Matrix, a solid waste management firm working with IMC.
The next major emphasis was on ensuring waste from the market was cleared periodically by sanitary workers. IMC invested in on-site composting facilities at smaller markets where waste could be disposed of easily and quickly.
“At the biggest wholesale market, a 20 tonne bio-methanation plant was set up to convert waste into gas, which could then be used as fuel.
Garbage would not be allowed to accumulate, and every three hours it was cleared from this market,” says Shrigopal Jagtap, head, solid waste management and sanitation, Basix Municipal Waste Ventures.
Spot fine
A strict enforcement system made it clear to the shop keepers that they either toed the line or paid a hefty fine. Enforcement teams would descend on the markets with loud speakers, and through street theatre and other art forms remind shopkeepers that they have to segregate waste and keep their premises clean.
“In the first year, we did not fine shops as our focus was on creating awareness, establishing certain systems and also work based on the feedback we received. We would often remind them that if their market was clean then more people would shop there, and this approach helping bring about a change in people’s mindset,” says Jagtap.
From the second year, he says, a fine starting from ₹ 250 onwards was levied.
Repeat offenders were not allowed to run their businesses. Enforcement in the form of fines played a big role as it was also publicised by the media.
In all of these things, those who were working on the ground faced many challenges. Setting up composting units at a few markets was a challenge as space was a constraint.
Vendors would often blame shoppers for not throwing the waste in the bins. “We had trained volunteers who would watch customer behaviour at markets and advise them to be more responsible,” says Sunpreet, adding that continual monitoring helped.
