Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Over the years, the Swachh Bharat Mission has played a key role in bringing sanitation to the forefront of national priorities, strengthening systems, expanding toilet access, and encouraging public participation in waste management. This collective effort helped reframe sanitation from an individual matter to a shared civic responsibility.
While infrastructure enables change, it is everyday behaviour that sustains it. Long-term progress depends on habits that are practised consistently. Swachh Aadat se Swachh Bharat reflects this shift. Refusing single-use plastic, avoiding littering and spitting, practising waste segregation, maintaining hand hygiene, using toilets responsibly, and reducing, reusing, recycling are actions that, when repeated daily, shape cleaner surroundings.
Together, these habits form a practical framework for sustained cleanliness. They demonstrate that a cleaner India is built not through one-time efforts, but through steady participation, where responsible behaviour becomes part of everyday life, and progress continues through collective practice.
Everyday actions
Beyond policy and planning, the real impact of sanitation efforts is reflected in local action. From residential streets to city spaces, these examples show how regular engagement and ownership can steadily improve shared environments.
Transforming waste into art: At the MCD South Zonal Office in Delhi, discarded materials have found a new purpose through a creative waste-to-art initiative. Old pipes from children’s condemned play equipment and wheels salvaged from unusable dustbins were repurposed to create an installation that now welcomes visitors to the office premises.
Unveiled on Republic Day 2026, the initiative demonstrates how materials typically treated as waste can be reintegrated into public spaces through thoughtful reuse.
Showcasing Swachh practices: In Uttar Pradesh, the Swachh Bharat Mission tableau at the Parade Ground highlighted how everyday sanitation practices are being strengthened through integrated systems and citizen participation. The display showcased door-to-door waste collection, segregation at source, and the role of Swachh Sarthi Clubs etc.
A different challenge
In Bengaluru, a different challenge brought people together. The growing problem of discarded sofa waste prompted a group of professionals to collaborate and address the issue through practical, community-driven solutions. By focusing on the responsible handling of bulky waste, the initiative demonstrated how targeted efforts can respond effectively to specific urban sanitation challenges.
In Chennai, teams working in the area of landfill waste recycling have shown how process-oriented efforts can reduce the long-term burden on dumping grounds.
A cleaner India is built not through one-time efforts, but through steady participation, where responsible behaviour becomes part of everyday life, and progress continues through collective practice
Reviving Tamsa River: In Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, a community-led effort has brought new life to the Tamsa River. Flowing from Ayodhya and merging into the Ganga, the Tamsa was once central to the daily lives of local residents. Over time, however, pollution, silt, waste accumulation, and neglect disrupted its natural flow, diminishing both its ecological health and its role in the community.
Recognising the river’s significance, local residents came together with a shared sense of responsibility to restore it. The initiative focused on cleaning the riverbed, removing waste, and rejuvenating its banks. Driven by collective effort and a sense of civic duty, the restoration work gradually revived the river’s flow.
Community voices: At Bahu Plaza in Jammu & Kashmir, Gantantra Ki Awaaz – Swachhata Ke Saath created a space where civic responsibility found expression through art and dialogue. The open-mic platform brought together poetry, music, and spoken word, allowing citizens to voice their views on cleanliness alongside themes of patriotism and community pride.
NE youth-led efforts
In Arunachal Pradesh, young volunteers have stepped forward to take responsibility for the upkeep of public spaces. Beginning in Itanagar, groups of youth identified areas that required regular attention and came together to clean them. Their efforts reflected a growing sense of ownership over shared surroundings and a commitment to improving them through collective action.
What started in Itanagar soon extended to other towns, including Naharlagun, Doimukh, Seppa, Palin, and Pasighat. Through repeated clean-up drives and sustained participation, these young volunteers have so far removed more than 11 lakh kilograms of waste from public areas.
In Assam’s Nagaon town, residents share a strong emotional connection with their neighbourhood lanes. Recognising the need to preserve these familiar spaces, a group of citizens came together with a shared resolve to clean them. As the initiative gained momentum, more people joined in, forming a dedicated team that succeeded in clearing large quantities of accumulated waste from the streets.
The experiences highlighted across regions point to a simple but powerful truth: lasting change is built through what people do every day. As these stories show, the strength of Swachh Aadat se Swachh Bharat lies not in singular intervention, but in continuity. When care for surroundings is woven into daily life, outcomes sustain themselves without constant oversight.
