Turning a high-risk dengue area into India’s cleanest district.

A Sridevasena, IAS: How she turned a high-risk dengue area into India’s cleanest district.

When A. Sridevasena became the district collector of Peddapalli, she faced big problems with sanitation. The district was almost ready to be called Open Defecation Free (ODF), but when Sridevasena visited local villages, she saw that wasn't true. Open defecation was still common, there was a strong smell of waste, and open drains ran in front of many homes. Sridevasena knew that to truly achieve ODF status, she needed to make major changes, and she was determined to make it happen. 

Over a year, Sridevasena led efforts that not only made Peddapalli an ODF+ district but also the cleanest in India.

• Her main focus was the Swachh Shukravaram initiative, which aimed to end open defecation by ensuring every household had a toilet. When some people complained about being far from home toilets, the collector ordered one community toilet for each of the 263 villages. Sarpanches were tasked with funding and maintaining these toilets, which help both farmers and students.
• Devasena also launched the ‘Swachhagrahi’ program, appointing over 1,000 women from self-help groups to monitor cleanliness. Each Swachhagrahi oversees 50-100 families, educating them about the risks of open defecation. Village leaders, or sarpanches, were responsible for constructing and maintaining these facilities to keep them clean and usable.
• Sridevasena also tackled the problem of open drains by overseeing the construction of more than 100,000 soak pits, which helped manage greywater and eliminate open drains. The project was partially funded for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, while Above Poverty Line (APL) families were encouraged to build their own soak pits.

This not only improved water management but also created a cleaner, healthier environment for everyone. As a result, Peddapalli saw a 65% drop in dengue cases in 2019 compared to the previous year, proving these measures were effective in improving public health.