Assam government initiates 'Swacch Zila Puruskar' for the cleanest district

In the budget announcement presented by State Finance Minister, Ajanta Neog on March 16 at the Assam Assembly, proposed to rank the districts of the state on basis of cleanliness.
 
The Most Outstanding District Initiative award will be given to the district that ranks highest on cleanliness with parameters such as 100 per cent door to door collection, segregation of waste, setting up and functioning of solid waste processing plant, clearing of legacy waste, setting up on Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and used water management. 

Under the Modi award, the district that ranks highest will be awarded Rs 100 crore towards its infrastructural development and will be placed at the disposal of the Deputy Commissioner of the respective district. 

Also Read: ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsite’: North Lakhimpur becomes first town in Assam to successfully treat 70,000 MT of legacy waste, clears 16 bigha land

The issues of cleanliness and sanitation have been addressed by the Assam state government's initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission has been widely acclaimed.

Garbage Dumpsites has become a massive problem for most urban cities, however, in a bid to overcome the barrier, North Lakhimpur has become a role model by becoming the first town in Assam to successfully treat 70,000 MT of legacy waste and converting a massive 16 bigha land situated in the middle of the city into a free utility space for the public.

Speaking exclusively to India Today NE, Manab Deka, BJP MLA from Lakhimpur said, "For several garbage used to be dumped at a designated place in the heart of the town."

Further in 2022, in the absence of the elected municipal body, the MLA along with the deputy commissioner of the district decided to start with the legacy waste management plant with municipal funds which were around 70,000 MT.

"Being a politician it's a risky business to invest money in garbage waste because people do criticise the funding but we took it as a challenge and with a goal to keep our town clean," Deka added.

Following this tenders were issued and were given to local parties along with the BPJ government's involvement in clearing the legacy waste within 8-9 months of time.

Speaking on the treatment of the legacy waste, the MLA said that from the waste products, three components were derived- the plastic waste was sent to Dalmia cement company in Meghalaya for which government didn't avail any monetary benefits, however, as per the National Green Tribunal's (India) agreement cement company must use it as fuel.