#SwachhSurvekshan2017: How a song took Indore to top of the cleanliness chart

Gali gali aur mohalla karte karte ho halla
Gali gali aur mohalla karte karte ho halla
Swachchhata ke doot banke ham chale ghar ghar mohalla
Ho halla, halla; Ho halla, halla; Ho halla, halla;
Indore ko Swachchh banana hai
Ab hamne ye thhaana hai

Despite Shaan’s sonorous voice, Aakanksha Soni was vexed. For the last four months, the 22-year-old engineer found herself being subjected to Ho halla, the civic body’s anthem for the Swacch Indore campaign, at every public space in the city — in housing colonies, in buses and in cinema halls. “I usually wake up by 10am, but since January, I’ve invariably been rising by 7.30 because the garbage collection truck drives past, blaring this song,” says Soni, adding that she ends up hearing the song at least eight times every day.

While Soni is understandably annoyed, it is thanks to Ho halla that Indore emerged as the cleanest city in India in the Swachh Survekshan 2017, announced by Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu earlier this week. Indore left behind 433 million+ population cities, climbing 24 spots from its 25th position in 2016, itself a leap from its 149th position in 2014.

Each city was evaluated on five parameters — waste collection, solid-waste management, …read more