Indian Cities Launch Comprehensive Monsoon Sanitation Campaign 2025
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) led the Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao 2025 (SABB) campaign from July 1 to July 31, 2025, focusing on pre-monsoon preparedness through coordinated cleanliness and public health efforts across urban India. The campaign was built around six 'Swachhata Mantras': clean hands, homes, neighbourhoods, toilets, drains, and public spaces, transforming seasonal monsoon preparation into a structured public health initiative.
Regional Implementation and Scale
Delhi witnessed extensive activities including a 3-km Pinkathon walkathon led by 400 NCC girl cadets promoting monsoon hygiene. The capital conducted handwashing drives in 255 schools, 206 cleaning drives covering backlanes and garbage vulnerable points (GVPs), and 469 sanitation drives in community and public toilets.
Patna Municipal Corporation introduced an innovative 'Manhole Ambulance' system with six operational vehicles (one per municipal zone) equipped with prefabricated manhole covers and repair tools, linked to a central control room for real-time complaint resolution during rains.
Navi Mumbai organized a Swachhata rally with over 600 participants including students, parents, and teachers, while simultaneously conducting health awareness camps across 26 Urban Primary Health Centres focusing on malaria and dengue prevention. Over two days, 52 health camps reached more than 22,690 citizens.
Telangana achieved remarkable scale with the campaign reaching nearly 13 lakh households. The state desilted approximately 14,210 km of drains, cleared 4,343 km of roadside bushes, and covered nearly 2.5 lakh houses through anti-dengue and malaria awareness drives. Health camps benefited over 8,500 frontline workers, and 140 composting pits were established in schools.
Northeast Region Participation
The northeastern states demonstrated significant collective action with Nagaland's Urban Local Bodies across six towns engaging nearly 5,000 people through 60 cleanliness drives, 30 rainwater harvesting initiatives, and 40 post-monsoon awareness drives. Sikkim saw around 4,000 participants in 100 cleanliness and 100 post-monsoon drives, alongside awareness rallies and PET bottle shredding initiatives.
Assam focused on drain cleaning, garbage removal, SafaiMitra health check-ups, and waste segregation with approximately 5,500 people participating in 200 cleanliness and 40 rainwater harvesting activities supported by 160 organizations and NGOs. Tripura engaged around 5,000 people in 150 cleanliness and 30 rainwater harvesting drives, alongside health camps, school rallies, and sanitation initiatives. Arunachal Pradesh extended efforts across 47 urban notified towns covering waste management, water quality, and public toilet maintenance.
Infrastructure and Community Development
Rewa Municipal Corporation extended cleaning efforts to improve both backlanes and front lanes across all wards, incorporating educational elements through murals featuring English and Hindi alphabets, numbers, and multiplication tables, while developing play equipment and musical instruments using 3Rs principles (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). Agra Municipal Corporation successfully cleaned and maintained nine backlanes with participation from Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP) trainees and local residents.
Sanitation Worker Safety and Entrepreneurship
The campaign emphasized safer sanitation practices through the Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge 2021, focusing on health education, safety equipment provision, worker welfare, and occupational risk reduction. Chandigarh emerged as a pioneer, prohibiting hazardous manual sewer cleaning since 2018 and establishing an Emergency Response Sanitation Unit (ERSU) under the Responsible Sanitation Authority (RSA) that provides Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), safety gear, and regular medical check-ups.
Assam reported significant progress with 83 of 96 Urban Local Bodies declaring themselves SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar in 2023, mapping 5,230 sanitation workers and organizing 92 health camps. Maharashtra prepared 246 Master Trainers in the first phase followed by training for 1,917 sanitation workers. Uttar Pradesh supported SafaiMitras by facilitating access to credit and livelihood opportunities, while Bhopal showcased success stories like Jyotsna Dhabde who received a loan under Swachhta Udyami Yojana to purchase a sanitation vehicle.
The campaign demonstrated how monsoon preparedness transforms from reactive measures to proactive community-driven public health responsibility, engaging citizens, students, self-help groups, and municipal authorities across multiple states in coordinated action against seasonal health risks.