Odisha’s Nuapada enters record books, conducts India’s largest cleanliness and plantation drive

Setting a national benchmark in community-led environmental initiatives, the Nuapada district carried out the largest single-day cleanliness-cum-plantation drive in India earlier this week, officially making its way into the record books.

According to The Times of India, the drive was conducted simultaneously across 3,214 locations within a two-hour window from 8 am to 10 am. It mobilised a total of 1.42 lakh participants drawn from various sections of society, including government officials, educational institutions, self-help groups, legal and health departments, NGOs, business bodies, and religious organisations.

The coordinated effort was part of a broader campaign to reinforce its status as a single-use plastic-free district.

The district targeted over 3,200 garbage-vulnerable points during the operation. A total of 32.52 tonnes of plastic waste was collected, and 1.02 lakh saplings were planted during the campaign. 

The event was monitored by a 12-member UNICEF team, including representatives from the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme.

Follow-Up to Single-Use Plastic-Free Declaration

The massive cleanliness effort followed Nuapada’s recent recognition as the first district in Odisha and the sixth in India to be declared free of single-use plastic.

The declaration was made on World Environment Day earlier this year and triggered a month-long action plan focused on environmental sustainability.

As part of the broader campaign, the district has initiated over 700 cleanliness activities, activated plastic waste management units, and undertaken mass plantation drives to create green buffer zones.

Notably, the scale and coordination of the campaign place Nuapada’s efforts among the most ambitious local environmental initiatives conducted in India to date.