Mawlynnong: How it became Asia's cleanest village
Picture this: Gushing streams, verdant greens, swinging palms,brightly-hued fruit orchards and spick and span roads. Well, that’s Mawlynnong for you, a quaint little village in the East Khasi hills of Meghalaya along the Indo-Bangladesh border. Located some 90 kilometres from the capital Shillong, Mawlynnong is aptly called ‘God’s Own Garden’, thanks to its natural beauty and inimitable cleanliness. For those of you, who love to rest in the lap of nature, this hamlet can be the perfect refuge. It came into prominence in 2003 once chosen as the cleanest village in Asia by travel magazine Discover India. Two years later, in 2005, the same magazine conferred Mawlynnong the status of India’s cleanest village! Let us find out how its residents keep the village neat.
The journey to cleanliness: How did it all begin?
It was 1887 when the British Raj was prevalent in India. Back then, Mawlynnong witnessed a plague outbreak. Now, the tribal people residing in the hamlet didn't know what to do because they believed it to be the result of the anger of some spirit, unleashed on the poor villagers! At this time, some missionaries were visiting Mawlynnong to look after the affected residents. They took upon themselves the onus of educating the inhabitants about the condition and its association with dirty surroundings while initiating cleanliness drives in the village. The missionaries also explained to them that the culprit behind plague was not any spirit. All these initiatives increased their awareness about maintaining green and clean environs.
What do the residents do to keep their village clean?
You must have come across the age-old adage, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Well, similarly, we can say that it takes the whole community to ensure world-class cleanliness for a village (a locality or a town for that matter!). Installation of drain pipes and implementing a rock-solid drainage system for every house were the first and foremost steps that the residents of Mawlynnong took in order to make their ‘Mission Cleanliness’ successful. These moves were followed up by numerous eco-friendly practices such as planting flowering shrubs or saplings across the village and much more. If you are a champion of green living, you will surely appreciate the other steps the inhabitants of Mawlynnong take in order to keep their village environment-friendly. They gather the garbage in bamboo dustbins, send it to a pit, and then use it as manure. There are bamboo dustbins throughout the community, and even the dry leaves that fall from the trees go right into the trash can.
Also, they encourage rainwater collection and the best part is, smoking and the usage of plastic are both prohibited in Mawlynnong. Additionally, children are taught the importance of cleanliness from a rather young age!
No wonder, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi declared Mawylnnong as the cleanest village in Meghalaya and called it a role model worth emulating for the rest of India. Now, that is something to really feel proud of!