Patna: Patna is taking a fresh and innovative step to tackle littering and improve cleanliness across the city. After publicly naming 2,000 people as “City Enemies” for spreading filth, the Patna Municipal Corporation is now looking for “City Friends” – ordinary citizens who will become role models for keeping their neighbourhoods clean. The goal is clear: to make Patna one of the cleanest cities in India and involve residents directly in maintaining hygiene.
The plan will select one City Friend from each ward. These volunteers will not be government staff, but responsible citizens who care about their surroundings. Their main duty will be to monitor streets, public spaces, and drains in their area, ensuring that no one litters. They will also encourage neighbours to separate wet and dry waste, support door-to-door garbage collection, and reduce the use of plastic. By doing this, they will help create cleaner, healthier, and greener neighbourhoods.
The City Friends initiative is modeled on the earlier “City Enemies” campaign, where those caught littering were publicly displayed on large digital screens across the city. Now, the municipal corporation plans to display the pictures of selected City Friends on the same screens. This recognition will motivate people to take cleanliness seriously and highlight good citizens who actively work for a cleaner Patna.
The selection of City Friends will be fully transparent and supervised by sanitation inspectors and city managers. Neighbours’ feedback will be considered to ensure that the volunteers chosen are genuinely responsible and committed. This is particularly important in crowded areas such as Nutan Rajdhani Anchal, Bankipur, and Kankarbagh, where maintaining cleanliness can be especially challenging.
City Friends will also act as a bridge between residents and the municipal corporation. They will report any problems related to waste collection or sanitation so that quick action can be taken. Officials believe this initiative will not only improve Patna’s ranking in the Swachh Survekshan cleanliness survey but also create a sense of responsibility among citizens. With people actively participating, Patna hopes to transform its streets and public spaces, proving that a cleaner city is possible when everyone works together.
