Shikdamakha (ASSAM): It's a movement that began during Christmas in 2012 with a competition to select the "cleanest" family in this village. The festival-specific contest in the village, located about 80 km from Assam's largest city Guwahati, has now morphed into the ambition to win the "Cleanest Village in Asia" title once held by Mawlynnong in neighbouring Meghalaya.
"Since then, we have discussed the issue. If Mawlynnong can become the cleanest village in Asia, why not us? We have everything -- a village bigger than Mawlynnong with abundance of nature, beautiful landscape and very generous and hospitable people," Elvin Phangso, a local teacher, told IANS.
To this end, the residents of Shikdamakha village in nature-rich Karbi Anglong district are leaving no stone unturned to go one step ahead of Mawlynnong.
Use of plastic is a strict no-no. The villagers use bamboo-made baskets for storing garbage in front of each of the 89 households and in every corner of the village, and the accumulated garbage is disposed of at regular intervals.
The residents also undertake community sweeping of the streets every week to ensure that cleanliness and a proper drainage system are in place. All households of Shikdamakha also have sanitary toilets to ensure hygiene and cleanliness.
The word "Shikdamakha" in Tiwa language means "hillocks of traps", according to Maslai, and local folklore suggests that ghosts used to trap humans here.
As for Mawlynnong, located about 90 km from the Meghalaya capital Shillong, it is a small hamlet inhabited by mainly Khasi tribe people. Here, the waste is collected in the dustbins made of bamboo, directed to a pit and then used as manure. It was a community initiative started long back in the village that finally helped Mawlynnong earn the status of Cleanest Village in Asia in 2003, as rated by Discover India magazine.
"We also have plans to go for infrastructure up gradation in the village to attract more tourists. This village is more accessible from Guwahati than Mawlynnong. It's only 80 km from Guwahati while Mawlynnong is 190 km from the Assam capital."
"Once we upgrade the infrastructure, I am sure we would see lots of tourists here and the locals would earn well from their visits," Rongpi hoped.
Indeed, villages like and Shikdamakha and Mawlyngnong prove that the vision of a clean India is not limited to just the urban space.