In a triumphant development, India’s cleanest city Indore has now become the country’s first ‘Water Plus’ city. But if you’re unsure what it means, we’ve got you covered. Earlier this week, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to Twitter to announced that Indore has set an example to other Indian cities by becoming country’s first “Water+” certified city under the Swacch Survekshan 2021.

Contents hide
1. Details
2. What’s a Water+ City?
3. How Indore Was Certified Water+ Tag?
4. Other Achievements by Indore

Details

Devi Ahilya’s homeland Indore, which is also the birthplace of superstar actor Salman Khan, singer extraordinaire Lata Mangeshkar and cricket legend Rahul Dravid, was recently declared ‘Water+’ certified city. CM Shivrajsingh Chouhan said that Indore has set an example in its “determination and dedication towards cleanliness”.

Taking to Twitter, CM Chouhan wrote, “Heartiest congratulations to the citizens of Indore as it becomes the first SBM Water+ certified city under #SwachhSurvekshan2021. Indore has been an example for the whole nation for its determination and dedication towards cleanliness. May it continue bring glory to the state!”

What’s a Water+ City?

A Water+ city is any Indian city which is given the award of Water+ certificate. The certificate is given to a city when it maintains cleanliness in its water bodies and its drains.  The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs provides a protocol and a toolkit to cities in which it states that Water+ city will be awarded when all the wastewater that’s drained from households, establishments and other residential, non-residential establishments is treated to a satisfactory level before its released in the environment again.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs says, “As Swachh Bharat Mission has progressed significantly, it is imperative that progress attained in achieving our objectives be sustained financially and in an environmentally feasible manner. “Cities are now working towards sustainability of sanitation status, by ensuring that no untreated wastewater is discharged into the open environment,” it further adds.

How Indore Was Certified Water+ Tag?

According to Indore’s Municipal Commissioner Pratibha Pal, “, “Indore carried out a survey and halted 7,000 outfalls of greywater that went in rivers, drains. We completed all criteria to gain this achievement.” she further spoke about other miscellaneous parameters and said that the city’s public toilets are connected through sewer lines and are maintained to be clean.

She also claimed that in Indore 7 water sewerage treatment plans were also set up and that about 110 million liters per day (MLD) water was treated, which was later used. “According to the guidelines of Water Plus Protocol, 147 special types of urinals were constructed in the city. Besides, the work of cleaning ponds, wells and all water bodies has also been done,” she said.

News agency Press Trust of India also quoted Indore district collector Manish Singh who gave an insight as to what all work was done for Indore to be awarded the Water+ certificate. “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 (IMC) which also freed the city’s Kanh and Saraswati rivers from sewer lines,” he said, as quoted by PTI.

Other Achievements by Indore

Earlier on June 26, the Centre declared its Smart Cities Awards 2020 where it gave the award of Smart City jointly to Indore and Surat (Gujarat) for its holistic development. The Smart City award is awarded by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. The ministry evaluates cities across multiple parameters such as governance, culture, urban environment, economy, etc.

Moreover, in 2021, Indore was awarded the cleanest city in the country for the 4th time in the row.