India Steps Up Monsoon Cleanliness Under National Campaign
25 Jul 2025 CW Team
With the onset of the monsoon, cities across India have intensified cleanliness and public health efforts under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs-led ‘Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao 2025’ campaign, running from 1 to 31 July. From metros to small towns, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are addressing health risks through drain cleaning, garbage removal, hand hygiene promotion, and awareness drives in slums, schools, and markets. Anchored in the ‘6 Swachhata Mantras’—clean hands, homes, neighbourhoods, toilets, drains, and public spaces—the initiative promotes both disease prevention and civic participation.
In Patna, the Municipal Corporation has launched ‘Manhole Ambulances’, retrofitted vehicles equipped for rapid manhole repair. Each unit, stationed per municipal zone, carries prefabricated covers and tools and is linked to the central control room for prompt citizen grievance redressal. The innovation follows earlier models like Pink Toilets and Loo Cafés.
Delhi’s civic bodies joined in with large-scale community engagement. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s South Zone hosted a 3-km ‘Pinkathon’ walkathon with 400 NCC girl cadets to promote hygiene. Over 255 handwashing drives were held in schools, alongside 206 public clean-ups and 469 sanitation drives across community toilets. NDMC focused on cleaning clogged drains and conducted vector-control fogging within Parliament premises.
In Navi Mumbai, over 600 students, parents, and residents participated in a cleanliness rally. Simultaneously, the municipal body conducted 52 health camps at 26 Urban Primary Health Centres, reaching nearly 22,700 people with dengue and malaria awareness.
Telangana implemented extensive interventions across its towns. Drain desilting, bush clearance along 4,343 km of roadside, and sanitisation of nearly 2.5 lakh homes formed key parts of the drive. Over 13 million homes were visited for waste segregation awareness, and 500+ overhead tanks were cleaned to ensure safe drinking water. Health camps benefitted 8,500 frontline workers, while 140 school composting pits encouraged a waste-to-manure mindset among students.
Chhattisgarh’s Pandariya trained Self-Help Groups in sanitation practices and use of the Swachhata App, followed by a community clean-up. Raipur conducted awareness drives, focused on student engagement and beautification of public spaces.
Altogether, ‘Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao 2025’ is driving a unified urban push towards a healthier, cleaner India during the monsoon season.