In a rare development that is expected to lend impetus to the ongoing holistic cleanliness campaign of Mopungchuket village under Mokokchung district, the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) and Zero Waste Himalaya (ZWH) has selected the village to implement a zero waste pilot project.
The 8-month long pilot project will be implemented by The Greensight Project under the title “Zero Waste Mopungchuket” with resource support provided by IMI for which a memorandum on Terms of Reference was formalized on August 2 last.
The zero waste pilots of IMI and ZWH, supported by the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA), is a part of The Himalayan Cleanup which is an annual flagship programme of IMI conducted across the Himalayan states of India and anchored by ZWH.
Responding to a call for proposals announced by IMI and ZWH earlier this year, The Greensight Project submitted theirs and was selected as one of the 5 proposals selected for the pilots from all over the Indian Himalayan states.
Mopungchuket village is regarded as one of the cleanest villages in Nagaland and has in recent times emerged as the frontrunner in the state’s campaign against plastic pollution. The Greensight Project was launched in the year 2016 and has been facilitating all cleanliness drives in the village in association with the village level organizations and stakeholders since its inception.
All activities of The Greensight Project circle around its twin core principles of instilling behavioural change towards cleanliness and advocating sustainable practices for preservation of natural environment among the villagers. The Greensight Project was launched by the Mopungchuket village students’ organization (MALT), which is a mandated apex body of the village established in the year 1932.
The principal focus of Zero Waste Mopungchuket pilot project will be on sensitization campaigns and onsite interventions to induce behavioural change among the villagers to adapt zero waste lifestyle in a sustained manner.
Some of the objectives of the pilot according to the Terms of Reference would include sensitization through IEC resources, a campaign to “make at home” promoting local unpacked food items, provision of locally sourced dustbins, streamlining of ongoing waste management, strategic partnership with village authority, community engagement, exploring feasible option for providing alternatives to single use plastic items, compulsory household compost pits and audiovisual communication for mass awareness.
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The Nokinketer 