Indore's Clean-Green Bid
Indore Introduces Country's First Green Bond & First Green Energy Powered
Mechanized Road Sweeping
Machine
Adjudged the cleanest city of India six times consecutively, Indore has made a
place for itself not just
nationally but also internationally as clearly observed by the enthusiasm in the recently concluded
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2023. Participants from different countries were keen to explore the
possibilities
of establishing ties and cooperation with local industry leaders for trade and business in the clean,
green
city of India.
Country's First 7 Star Garbage Free City
Indore is abound with tales of conscious citizens, households, rickshaw drivers,
hawkers, business
establishments, ticking of people who are seen littering. An incremental garbage reduction policy,
compulsory waste segregation, and a change in citizen's mindset have all pushed the city to achieve
what seemed impossible. Everyday garbage disposal system encouraged citizens to keep their
household clean. Indore Municipal Corporation built their fleet of door-to-door garbage waste collection
vehicles and beefed up their team of Safai Mitras to improve their capacity. After the team was in
place,
IMC deployed them for door-to-door collection of garbage. A control room was set up to track the
movement of garbage collection vehicles from the neighbourhood to the processing centre. There is
100 per cent door-to-door collection in the city now. The most important link to the chain was waste
segregation at source.
The MC encouraged
households to segregate their waste. Citizens even
carried bins in their cars to avoid littering public
places. Many localities adopted making compost
with wet garbage. With a multi-pronged, wellestablished system every household in Indore has
taken upon itself, the collective responsibility of
segregating the dry and wet waste. The highlight of
IMC's waste disposal process is Asia's largest bio-CNG plant that was inaugurated by PM Modi in
2019.
The Gobar-Dhan plant runs on the wet waste collected from the city and it can generate 17,000 to
18,000 kg of bio-CNG and 10 tons of organic manure.
Indoris have been making a conscious effort to carry out cleaning work after
every community event.
Zero-waste events mark every community celebration and these include international cricket matches
too, the recent one being India vs South Africa T20 match hosted at Holkar International stadium.
The
newlyweds are being administered oath of cleanliness and dustbins are being distributed during
wedding ceremonies. Night cleanliness drives are undertaken, where women Safai Mitras volunteer in
large numbers. This also gives them the freedom to spend the day with their families. Children have
become the flag-bearers of sanitation. Teachers and parents are now making it a point to spread
awareness among children of Indore on dangers of littering. Children are brand ambassadors of cleanliness. Committees/social groups are formed in schools and colleges to ensure
cleanliness in the
neighbourhood.
Shopkeepers and business units have joined forces to keep Indore the
cleanest city. As the city
discouraged single-use-plastics, shopkeepers strictly started using either cloth bags or polythene
bags of
permissible thickness. All garbage bins have been removed from the nearby areas to discourage the
stray animals from loitering around for food. Playing their part, the market associations in Indore
have
shifted to LPG or electric, reusable cutlery etc. to keep the mart, street shops other popular
famous food streets like 56 Dukaan clean. Indore's cleanliness model, based on Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle, met all
the criteria of 100 per cent door-to-door waste collection, 100 per cent waste treatment to become
the
first city to gain 7-star rating. The city has also successfully eliminated the legacy waste making
it a zerolandfill city.
Country's First "Water Plus" city
In 2019, the IMC told people to close any sewer
connection opening into rivers or water bodies.
The goal was to not let the water bodies get
dirty. Under the Swachh Survekshan 2021,
Indore was declared the first Water Plus city of
India. According to the guidelines of Water Plus
Protocol of Swachh Survekshan, 1,746 public and
5,624 domestic sewer outfalls in 25 small and big
nullahs were tapped by the Indore Municipal Corporation which also freed the city's Kanh and
Saraswati
rivers from sewer lines. 147 special types of urinals were constructed in the city. Besides this the
work of
cleaning ponds, wells and all water bodies was conducted. Seven sewerage treatment plants were
constructed in the city and about 110 million litres per day (MLD) treated water from them is being
used. Sewage generated in the city too is treated at three special plants and reused at 200 public
gardens, farms and for construction activities.
Green Business: India's First Green Bond
Banking on Indore's credibility as the cleanest city of India, the civic body
issued municipal bonds to help
fund its solar power project. At present, Indore Municipal Corporation spends around Rs. 25 crores
every month on electricity for pumping and supply of drinking water. To reduce the cost a 60 MW solar
project is being set up at Jalud Pumping Station at a cost of Rs. 305 crores. The cost of this project
will be
met through Public Issue of Green Bonds. The project would enable the civic body to reduce dependency on
grid energy and reduce its carbon footprint.
Speaking on the first
Green Bond of India, Pratibha Pal, Commissioner, Indore Municipal Corporation
said, “This is not just a green initiative but a concrete step
towards an innovative financing mechanism. IMC has been
taking steps to check carbon emission and converting it to
earn carbon credits.” IMC became the first urban body in
the country to introduce green bonds as a public offering. The investors will be
offered coupon rate of 8.25% per annum payable half yearly and effective yield of
upto 8.42% per annum on their investment, while they will also be able to trade
the bonds. IMC garnered Rs. 661.52 crore on the first day of a public issue of green bonds.
CM Shivraj
Singh Chouhan said that it is a matter of pride for all Indoris and the State that this is the first
green
public bond in the country issued by any urban body. The green bond will help to prevent 1.26 lakh
tons
of carbon dioxide emissions which is almost like planting 16.2 lakh trees every year. Indore is also
the
first city in India to get Green Bonds listed with NSE.
Unique Step Towards Green Energy
The Indore Municipal Corporation recognizes the need for moving towards
environmental sustainability
through greener and cleaner technology. Aligned with this year's "Green Budget", IMC pledges to bring
down its AQI from Satisfactory to Good. Furthering the idea of clean & green
technology, IMC added
CNG powered road sweeping machines to its existing fleet of 27 machines that remove dust and
particulate matter from the roads on a stretch of 800 km daily. Indore roads will now be cleaned by
using 'DULEVO', the clean fuel CNG sweeping machine and will help contribute to the cause of
environmental protection.
'DULEVO' runs at a speed of 0.30 Km / H and is capable
of cleaning the narrow lanes and metro
corridors. Flagging off the first CNG sweeping machine, Shri Pushyamitra Bhargav, the Mayor of Indore
said, “Indore is a city of innovation. Municipal Corporation Indore has included CNG sweeping machine
through International Waste Management (IWM).” He further added that this is the first step towards
green energy. Indore is working towards increasing carbon credit and reducing diesel expenditure.
Furthering this idea, the country's first CNG sweeping machine and dual function conveyor and vacuum
sweeping machines have been introduced in Indore.
As Jeevan Singh Rajput sets about his daily task of sweeping the roads of Indore,
he proudly drives the country's first CNG sweeping machine.
"जब से मैंने इस मशीन को चलाना शुरू किया , मेरा काम बहुत आसान हो गया
है । सीएनजी से चलने के कारण इससे प्रदूषण भी कम होता है । यह डीजल
मशीन से बेहतर और तेज़ चलती है जसकी वजह से मेरा काम भी जल्दी खत्म
हो जाता है ।"
Amal Sharma, who owns a shop on the same road, which is cleaned using the 'DULEVO', the clean fuel
CNG sweeping machine, is thrilled to see this new machine.
"इंदौर नगर निगम की बदौलत न केवल ये सड़कें साफ हैं , बल्कि प्रदूषण भी नहीं है । यहाँ की सभी दुकानों के लिए यह बहुत मददगार साबित हुई। अब ग्राहक आराम से हमारी दुकानों के पास खड़े हो सकते हैं क्योंकि अब धूल और प्रदूषण बिल्कुल भी नहीं है ।
मैं नगर निगम से आग्रह करूगा की ऐसे ही सारी मशीनें सीएनजी वजजन में ले कर आएं ताकि प्रदूषण पर पूरी तरह से रोक लग सके।“
New Air Quality Monitoring Stations
Augmenting sustainable development, Indore recently inaugurated new air quality monitoring stations.
The AQM stations have been launched in a joint effort with city authorities and the US Agency of
International Development (USAID). The three reference-grade air quality monitoring stations were
inaugurated under Clear Air Catalyst project to study composition and levels of various pollutants in
city's ambient air. The monitoring equipment would measure levels of fine particulate matter, tiny
particles that can cause health hazards.
To make sanitation and energy conservation an essential and sustainable way of life, Indore has set the
benchmark. With the green initiatives, Indore takes a huge step towards becoming the first carbon
neutral city in India.
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