Nestlé India: Ponda to be the cleanest tourist cities in India by 2023

PONDA (GOA): In an expansion of Project HILLDAARI with Stree Mukti Sanghatana & Recity Network, Nestlé India launched its waste management project in Ponda, Goa.

To establish Ponda as one of the cleanest tourist cities in India, Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), and Ponda Municipal Council(PMC), Goa, have come forward in support of the project HILLDAARI.

The official launch of the project took place at Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) premises on the 15th of July, 2021.

More than 30 eminent personalities from Government, Civil society, and media attended the programme; Dr Tariq Thomas, Secretary (Urban Development), Shantaram Kolvekar, Chairperson, PMC, Pradeep Naik, Chief Officer, PMC, and Sanjay Bhandari, Head of Factory Corporate Affairs, Nestlé India, among many others. On this occasion, a vision film was showcased outlining the project outcomes.

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The project envisions establishing Ponda as one of the cleanest tourist cities in India by 2023.

It aims to train 105 waste workers professionally, divert 13.8 MTD of waste and enable capacity building for urban local bodies. 

The pilot phase of the project was initiated in February 2021 to identify the challenges on the ground and accordingly work on a strategic plan for the future. The project covered a total of 3950 property units. No-contact IEC (Information, Education & Communication) materials leveraging traditional and digital media were used to conduct waste management awareness among 1352 properties in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

The project implemented creative street art activities to ignite social awareness on ideal waste management practices such as No-Littering and Segregation. Following this, 7 waste collection vehicles and 2 public walls were painted to bring the desired behavioural change among citizens and tourists.

Further, the team has also deployed a Unique Waste Intelligence Technology, that supports the Municipal Corporation in the end-to-end monitoring of waste management activities and solving city-related problems in real-time. 

The project now intends to expand in the remaining 11 wards of the city after implementing the project in 4 wards during the pilot phase. 

While congratulating Project Hilldaari on the successful completion of the pilot, Dr Tariq Thomas Hon. Secretary (Urban Development) Government of Goa emphasised ‘Garbage’ as one of the major problems in Ponda. He said, “Ponda as a tourist place is developing with a manifold increase in the quantity of solid waste. Waste can be the biggest unsolved issue in the future as there is an impropriety to throw garbage anywhere in goa. I appreciate  Nestlé India’s, Recity Network and other stakeholders for initiating a systematic approach through project HILLDAARI towards holistic waste management solutions in the city. I am grateful to the Ponda council for this collaboration and I will ensure the desired support from GSUDA & DMA for its effective functioning in the city. I am hopeful Ponda will set an example for other cities to follow in terms of waste management.”

 Shri. Shantaram Kolvekar, Hon. Chairman of PMC mentioned project HILLDAARI as notable progress following the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiated by Hon. Shri. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India in 2014.

He added, “The project has already initiated required directions to achieve the establishment of a Solid Waste Management System in the city. The concept of 3 important ‘R’s i.e. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle will tremendously help towards establishing solid waste management.”

He requested all the citizens, PMC staff, and government officials to join together to make Ponda one of the cleanest cities in India.

According to Mr Sanjay. Bhandari, Head of Factory Corporate Affairs, Nestle India Ltd,  “Being a popular tourist place in Goa, Ponda has been given the priority to implement HILLDAARI Initiatives. Behaviour change among citizens and society is important to establish successful solid waste management in the city.  The project has planned engaging activities to focus on behaviour change activities. I appreciate Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Recity Network, and other project team members for initiating successful implementation of the project.”

The launch event was conducted as per government mandated COVID-19 protocols and the Hilldaari team ensured attendees followed all safety measures,”  remarked Mr Tushar Tongaonkar, Hilldaari Project Lead.

HILLDAARI is an initiative supported by Nestlé India, implemented by Stree Mukti Sanghatana and technical partner Recity Network to revive the beauty of Indian tourist cities by developing inclusive, resilient & sustainable models for solid and plastic waste management solutions.

It is currently being implemented in Mussoorie, Nainital, Dalhousie, Ponda, Mahabaleshwar, and Munnar.

The initiative has facilitated the diversion of 4668 metric tons of waste from landfills and is progressively working towards professionalizing 220 waste collectors and informal waste pickers through a multi-collaborative approach with municipal councils, citizens, contractors, waste workers, and influencers.