Miles to go beyond cleanliness towards a sustainable future

Time of India

17-07-2025

Indore: Fresh off its historic eighth consecutive win in the Swachh Survekshan and a dominant performance in the elite 'Super Swachh League,' Indore is already charting its next ambitious course.
The city, a pioneer in sanitation, is now focusing on a comprehensive strategy to enhance its livability, targeting environmental sustainability, resource management, and digital transformation.
"While meticulously working on the toolkit for Swachh Survekshan 2024-25, we simultaneously identified our next targets," stated IMC additional commissioner Abhilash Mishra. He outlined a multi-faceted plan that includes establishing new processing plants, improving air quality, reducing freshwater consumption, promoting treated water reuse, intensifying "Catch the Rain" initiatives, expanding renewable energy through solar plants, and ultimately, decreasing per capita garbage generation.
IMC is committed to developing more state-of-the-art processing facilities to unlock the full potential of waste. Mishra revealed plans to establish a bio-briquette plant, a pyrolysis plant, a cloth recycling plant, and a glass recycling plant. These projects aim to extract maximum value from various waste streams. Furthermore, IMC has already initiated efforts to make the Indore Zoo, Choithram Sabji Mandi, and all remaining wards, zones, and slums 'zero waste' areas.
Regarding waste reduction, Mishra said, "Decreasing per person garbage collection is a long-term target. In the last seven years, it significantly reduced from 436 gram per person to 418 grams per person." He emphasized that the '5R' concept (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle) will be crucial for further reduction. To this end, IMC has already established community initiatives such as Bartan Bank (Utensil Bank), Jhola Bank (Bag Bank), Nekki Ki Diwar (Wall of Kindness), and various RRR (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) centres.
"Improving Indore's Air Quality Index (AQI) is another key focus, with a target to reduce it from the current level of below 80 to below 60. To achieve this, AICTSL (Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited) has already begun replacing its diesel-run buses with CNG and electric vehicles. The city has also set up numerous charging stations to encourage the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs)," he said. Other measures include regular mechanised sweeping, washing, and mist spraying for road dust suppression, green-net covering on under-construction structures, setting up more AQI monitoring stations, and ensuring end-to-end pavement, the senior official added.
In terms of water management, IMC is establishing a vast network of treated water pipelines for public gardens, dividers, and greenbelts. "Our target is to increase the reuse of treated water and reduce the consumption of freshwater," Mishra explained. The 'Catch the Rain' campaign, promoting rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, is also a high priority. Mishra highlighted the economic benefit, stating, "It costs us around Rs 800 per person to supply Narmada water to approximately 35 lakh people of Indore, while our return is only Rs 200 per person.
All these efforts will also reduce this financial burden on IMC."
Beyond these initiatives, IMC aims to make its entire system more technologically driven through AI and other interventions, such as installing Internet of Things (IoT) devices in public toilets for better monitoring and improved services. Efforts are also underway to increase the public CCTV network, develop dense plantations, create more gardens, and organise activities that promote happiness and health among citizens, all contributing to making Indore a more livable city.
He affirmed Indore's commitment to forging a distinguished identity as a 'Clean, Green, Safe, Healthy, and Solar City,' with IMC actively working on all related components to realise this vision.
Indore: Fresh off its historic eighth consecutive win in the Swachh Survekshan and a dominant performance in the elite 'Super Swachh League,' Indore is already charting its next ambitious course. The city, a pioneer in sanitation, is now focusing on a comprehensive strategy to enhance its livability, targeting environmental sustainability, resource management, and digital transformation.
"While meticulously working on the toolkit for Swachh Survekshan 2024-25, we simultaneously identified our next targets," stated IMC additional commissioner Abhilash Mishra. He outlined a multi-faceted plan that includes establishing new processing plants, improving air quality, reducing freshwater consumption, promoting treated water reuse, intensifying "Catch the Rain" initiatives, expanding renewable energy through solar plants, and ultimately, decreasing per capita garbage generation.
IMC is committed to developing more state-of-the-art processing facilities to unlock the full potential of waste. Mishra revealed plans to establish a bio-briquette plant, a pyrolysis plant, a cloth recycling plant, and a glass recycling plant. These projects aim to extract maximum value from various waste streams. Furthermore, IMC has already initiated efforts to make the Indore Zoo, Choithram Sabji Mandi, and all remaining wards, zones, and slums 'zero waste' areas.
Regarding waste reduction, Mishra said, "Decreasing per person garbage collection is a long-term target. In the last seven years, it significantly reduced from 436 gram per person to 418 grams per person." He emphasized that the '5R' concept (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle) will be crucial for further reduction. To this end, IMC has already established community initiatives such as Bartan Bank (Utensil Bank), Jhola Bank (Bag Bank), Nekki Ki Diwar (Wall of Kindness), and various RRR (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) centres.
"Improving Indore's Air Quality Index (AQI) is another key focus, with a target to reduce it from the current level of below 80 to below 60. To achieve this, AICTSL (Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited) has already begun replacing its diesel-run buses with CNG and electric vehicles. The city has also set up numerous charging stations to encourage the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs)," he said. Other measures include regular mechanised sweeping, washing, and mist spraying for road dust suppression, green-net covering on under-construction structures, setting up more AQI monitoring stations, and ensuring end-to-end pavement, the senior official added.
In terms of water management, IMC is establishing a vast network of treated water pipelines for public gardens, dividers, and greenbelts. "Our target is to increase the reuse of treated water and reduce the consumption of freshwater," Mishra explained. The 'Catch the Rain' campaign, promoting rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, is also a high priority. Mishra highlighted the economic benefit, stating, "It costs us around Rs 800 per person to supply Narmada water to approximately 35 lakh people of Indore, while our return is only Rs 200 per person.
All these efforts will also reduce this financial burden on IMC."
Beyond these initiatives, IMC aims to make its entire system more technologically driven through AI and other interventions, such as installing Internet of Things (IoT) devices in public toilets for better monitoring and improved services. Efforts are also underway to increase the public CCTV network, develop dense plantations, create more gardens, and organise activities that promote happiness and health among citizens, all contributing to making Indore a more livable city.
He affirmed Indore's commitment to forging a distinguished identity as a 'Clean, Green, Safe, Healthy, and Solar City,' with IMC actively working on all related components to realise this vision.