The Housing and Urban Development Department of Jammu & Kashmir, under the leadership of Commissioner/Secretary Mandeep Kaur, IAS, and Mission Director Dr.Devansh Yadav, IAS, advanced several high-impact sanitation and waste management campaigns across all 80 Urban Local Bodies during May 2026. In preparation for the SwachhSurvekshan 2025-26 assessment, the department provided comprehensive, end-to-end field support, ensuring seamless coordination of assessment teams, active availability of field functionaries for on-site verification, and the deployment of dedicated contingency teams to eliminate operational gaps. Administrative capacity-building was simultaneously prioritized through specialized technical training sessions for Swachhata Executives, Master Trainers, and newly appointed Community Mobilizers, focusing on decentralized plastic waste management, Material Recovery Facility operations, and household-level organic composting techniques.
A core highlight of the month’s environmental enforcement was the formal rollout of the statewide Single-Use Plastic Free Market Initiative. Field teams conducted extensive on-ground awareness drives for shopkeepers, street vendors, and market associations, paired with the direct distribution of reusable cloth and jute bags to actively curb plastic dependency in major commercial zones. This enforcement was mirrored by an intensive door-to-door waste segregation campaign executed in partnership with Self-Help Groups and frontline sanitation workers. Awareness teams visited households to distribute instructional stickers and educate families on utilizing green bins for wet waste and blue bins for dry waste, successfully driving behavioral change regarding the source segregation of wet, dry, sanitary, and domestic hazardous waste streams.
Public participation reached a significant milestone as the department successfully mobilized and facilitated 1,43,009 distinct citizen responses for the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 feedback campaign, reflecting genuine community ownership over urban governance. Out of the total responses received across the Union Territory, the Kashmir Division contributed a 51.4% share, while the Jammu Division accounted for 48.6%, with the Jammu Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Municipal Corporation leading the feedback collection. Youth engagement also received a massive boost with the official launch of Phase-II of the Swachhta Internship Programme. Inaugurated at Government Girls High School, City Chowk, by the Jammu Municipal Corporation, the internship program aims to cover 20 schools, utilizing interactive workshops by the Swaaha IEC team to empower young students to act as environmental ambassadors within their neighborhoods.
The month of May also marked the formal observance of International Workers’ Day across all 80 Urban Local Bodies to reinforce the dignity of labor. Municipal bodies, including the Srinagar Municipal Corporation under Commissioner Faz Lul Haseeb, IAS, hosted formal recognition and felicitation ceremonies to publicly honor frontline Safai Mitras with Certificates of Recognition. These events significantly enhanced the morale and pride of the frontline sanitation workforce while fostering deeper community respect for the individuals keeping urban environments safe, healthy, and clean. Through coordinated field action, digital media campaigns, and structured public feedback, Jammu & Kashmir continues to lay the foundation for a sustainable, garbage-free urban ecosystem.