Morung Express News
Mokokchung | August 10
During an awareness campaign on the Clean Survey of Village 2018, or Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018, held here today organized by the PHED Mokokchung, the common underlying point made by the speakers was that the villages in Mokokchung were already clean and that they only needed to “move on to the next stage.” While the speakers attempted to persuade the representatives from 40 villages in Mokokchung district attending the campaign to be ready for the Clean Survey of Village 2018, they invariably referenced to Mawlynnong village in Meghalaya, regarded as the cleanest village in Asia.
Chaitanya Prasad, SDO (C) Mokokchung who is said to have visited almost all the villages in Mokokchung district said that all the villages were surprisingly clean. “The villages are already clean. You must now move on to the next stage,” he said. By “moving on to the next stage,” he meant “beautification” of the “already clean villages.” He said that most of the villages in Mokokchung, and specifically mentioning some villages, were as clean as Mawlynnong. According to him, the only difference is that Mawlynnong villagers have undertaken “beautification” of their village apart from keeping it clean. It was in this aspect that he urged the villages to not only keep it clean but also beautify their villages.
Meanwhile, the Executive Engineer of PHED Mokokchung, Yanger Pongen said that the village of Mawlynnong was like just another village in Mokokchung. He, however, added that one needed to look deeper to understand why Mawlynnong is regarded as the cleanest village in Asia despite its similarities with the villages in Mokokchung.
Pongen, who had visited Mawlynnong a few years ago, said that there may be “nothing peculiar” about the village to a visitor from Mokokchung on the surface but added, “We have to look very hard to see the difference.” He said that every individual in Mawlynnong take part in cleaning the village every day as it was a matter of pride and prestige for them. Where there is tourist inflow, there is waste generated, he said, and added that the villagers of Mawlynnong ensure that they keep their village meticulously clean despite the heavy inflow of tourists. He said that cleanliness was also taught as a “subject” in the village’s school and encouraged the members present to emulate the same by taking a “period” in a day’s routine to clean the school premises. In Mawlynnong, he said, cleanliness was a way of life.
Prasad, in his concluding remarks, said that the villages in Mokokchung can achieve the “cleanest village award” in the Clean Survey of Village 2018. He, however, added that the citizens must actively participate in the Citizen’s Feedback on sanitation parameters which accounts for 35% of the marks in the survey. For this, they need to download the SSG 18 app and submit their feedback online from their smartphones.
