India's 'green and clean' village

India's 'green and clean' village
Author: Jyotsna Singh
Publication: BBC News
Date: September 25, 2009
URL: http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/south_ asia/8259789. stm

A small village in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya has
become the envy of its neighbours.

Large crowds of visitors have been thronging to the village curious to
find out why Mawlynnong has earned the reputation for being arguably the
cleanest and best educated in India - all its residents can read and
write and each house has a toilet.

That is no mean achievement in a country that is still struggling to
educate its population and address basic water and sanitation issues.

About 90km (55 miles) from the state capital Shillong and barely 4km
(2.4 miles) from the Bangladeshi border, Mawlynnong is much loved by its
inhabitants who work hard to keep it clean.

Bamboo dustbins

It is five in the morning and pouring with rain. But that does not deter
a group of volunteers in the village from rising early to sweep the
roads. It is a process that is repeated several times a day.

"Some cleaners have been hired by the village council to sweep the
roads - but many villagers take turns to make sure they are swept
several times a day because it is not possible to pay so many people,"
says young volunteer Henry Khyrrum.

The streets are all dotted with dustbins made of bamboo. Every piece of
litter and almost every leaf that has fallen from a tree is immediately
discarded.

Plastic is completely banned and all waste disposal is environmentally
friendly. Rubbish is thrown into a pit dug in a forest near the village
where it is left to turn into compost.

The villagers here say that lessons in hygiene start in school so that
children can be taught from an early age how to keep their surroundings
clean and green.

Mawlynnong is one of the wettest parts of the country - and while many
parts of India are suffering under drought-like conditions this year,
the south-western monsoon has not disappointed the north-east.

While the supply of clean water and sanitation is a huge problem in
India's teeming cities, it is an even bigger challenge for the
authorities in the country's villages where these facilities are almost
non-existent.

Keeping it clean now comes naturally to most people here. The village
headman says the village council - or Darbar - maintains very strict
discipline.

'Global warming'

"There is a fine imposed by the village council for anybody found to be
throwing litter around or cutting trees. You see, the fine is just one
dollar for each such offence committed. But due to the humiliation and
embarrassment that our self-respecting people feel at being fined, they
make sure to follow the rules," says village headman Thomlin
Khongthohrem.

"Besides, the council carries out strict inspections of the sanitation
facilities in each house.

"Workshops are also being organised to make people aware of the dangers
from global warming."

Experts say Mawlynnong, like the rest of the state, has a very effective
local governance system. The society is matrilineal - meaning that land
is passed down through the female side of families - making women
economically more powerful.

Mawlynnong's reputation for being clean and green has been well
documented, and its Khasi tribal inhabitants are known to be worshippers
of nature.

Their reverence for nature is seen by some as an effective way of
preserving the forest cover.

Thambor Lyngdoh, in charge of a sacred community forest in a
neighbouring village, says the while it is true that many Khasi people
are "nature worshippers" the drive for cleanliness and education is not
about faith only.

"Even today we are very strict about how the forest can be used," he
says.

"People are allowed to take whatever they need from the forest for their
own use. But they cannot take anything more than that for any kind of
commercial use. They are punished for any violation."

Local initiative

Mawlynnong's reputation for cleanliness has even earned it a place on
the state's tourism map.

Hundreds of visitors from all over India now visit the village
throughout the year. Most of those visitors are impressed with what they
see.

"This is the first time I have come to this place. I really want to
congratulate the villagers who have made the place so beautiful and the
cleanest in the continent. There is something special about the place.
We just came to see why it has become so famous. It really is clean and
you have to give them 10 out of 10 for that," says Sanjay Saraogi, a
tourist from Shillong.

Another tourist, Euginea, says the rest of country should learn from
Mawlynnong's experience.

"I have come to this village to see its cleanliness and I think
everybody should follow the example of the villagers," she says

Mawlynnong's success is entirely driven by local initiative. It has been
so successful that the state government has been prompted to promote
eco-tourism in the area but the locals are resisting this.

"There is a fierce sense of self-determination among these people. There
are certain rules they have followed traditionally. They do not want
government to borrow ideas from outside and impose it on them," says
Deepak Laloo, a member of the Meghalaya Tourism Development forum."

The villagers are treading a path that the rest of India should be keen
to follow.