In most Indian cities, cleanliness campaigns begin with flair and fade away just as quickly. A politician picks up a broom, delivers a passionate speech, photo-ops are clicked—and the next day, the streets return to chaos.

But Indore, Madhya Pradesh, rewrote that script. Since clinching the title of India’s cleanest city in 2017, it held on to the crown for eight straight years, driven by innovation, accountability, and public will.

From ranking 25th in 2016, Indore transformed itself through sweeping changes in waste collection, segregation, and treatment. About 850 sweepers, color-coded bins lining even the tiniest bylanes, and GPS-tracked garbage vans turned a vision into a routine. Streets once plagued with filth and stray animals are now hosed clean every morning with recycled water, while vans play a catchy jingle—“Indore Has Become Number One.”

Homes separate waste into six categories—from wet to biomedical—and the city converts it into compost and fuel, used by buses and even restaurants.

The real transformation, though, is social. Indore’s citizens now take personal ownership of their city’s hygiene. People stop litterers, children pledge cleanliness, and CCTV cameras fine violators. Cleanliness contests and religious appeals created a citywide movement, backed by determined governance and civic pride.

As petrol pump owner Prabhnit Sawhney sums up: “When the public and the government move in sync, real change happens.”