MCD launches month-long cleanliness drive across Delhi, targets 400 more zero-waste colonies

The MCD on Thursday launched a month-long cleanliness drive across Delhi, focusing on improving waste segregation and collection, cleaning public spaces and expanding the number of zero-waste colonies.

The drive, which will continue till October 17, was launched on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday as part of the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva 2026’ campaign, a nationwide cleanliness initiative aimed at encouraging public participation in sanitation and waste management.

During the campaign, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will organise special cleanliness drives at markets, public spaces, slum areas, hospitals, parks, Delhi Metro and bus stations and along railway tracks, an official statement said.

It will also take up identified areas requiring focused cleanliness interventions and conduct drives against open waste burning.

A major focus will be on waste segregation at source, home composting and responsible handing over of waste to collection workers. Plastic-free practices and prevention of littering will also be promoted, the statement read.

The corporation said more than 800 colonies have already been declared zero-waste colonies and it has set a target of adding more than 400 colonies during the campaign.

The month-long programme will also include health and welfare camps for sanitation workers, besides efforts to bring waste pickers into formal waste collection systems. Hotels, roadside eateries and food stalls will be involved in cleanliness activities, while public toilets will be inspected for visibility and maintenance, the statement read.

Additionally, the MCD will organise programmes at the Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfill sites to mark the reclamation of land following biomining and bioremediation work. A “Best Maintained Ward” award will also be instituted to recognise sustained cleanliness and waste management at the ward level.

On the first day of the campaign, a health camp was held for sanitation workers in Karampura, while cleanliness activities were carried out at the Malaria Office in Azad Nagar.

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At the Okhla landfill site, public representatives and local residents were briefed about the ongoing biomining and bioremediation work. A ward committee meeting was also held in the West Zone to encourage greater participation of residents’ welfare associations, market associations and citizens in cleanliness activities.

A cleanliness drive in Anand Vihar in ward 206, held to mark the prime minister’s birthday, covered the stretch from the PWD road near A-Block Surajmal Vihar Market to Bahubali Enclave Park. Roads and surrounding areas were cleaned and fogging and anti-mosquito spraying were carried out.