Indian idyll keeps calm
Mawlynnong in Meghalaya state is wary of its reputation as ‘Asia’s cleanest village’. This matrilineal society of 500 inhabitants is unsure about its new-found fame and the resulting influx of tourists
MAWLYNNONG, INDIA // In the hamlet of Mawlynnong in India’s north-eastern Meghalaya state, plastic is banned and spotless paths are lined with flowers. But its reputation as “Asia’s cleanest village” has proved to be a mixed blessing.
Until 2003, no tourists visited this remote community of 500 inhabitants high in the mountains, accessible only by foot.
Home to the Khasi tribal people, Mawlynnong is famous for being a rare matrilineal society, where property and wealth are passed on from a mother to her youngest daughter, and children take their mother’s surname.
In recent years, the village has become known for another reason, its exceptional cleanliness, which is far removed from the noise and dirt of India’s bigger cities. Bamboo dustbins stand at every corner, volunteers sweep the streets at regular intervals and large signs order visitors not to throw away plastic packaging – littering is frowned upon.
“We clean every day because our grandparents and our ancestors have taught us how to clean the village and the surrounding area, because it’s good for our health,” said Baniar Mawroh, a teenager.
After the village built its first access road 12 years ago, a journalist from travel magazine wrote a now-infamous article calling it the cleanest village in Asia.
The trickle of tourists became a deluge, with visitors now reaching 250 people a day in high season, swelling the village’s population by 50 per cent.
But there is a downside to the accolades.
“Now there is noise pollution. I’ve talked to the village council, which has written to the government asking for a new parking lot further away,” said Rishot Khongthohrem, 51, a guesthouse owner.
Deepak Laloo, a former official with the Meghalaya tourism development corporation, advised the village in the early stages of its tourism development, but fears the effects of an influx of visitors.
“There’s no more privacy,” he said. “A woman is washing her clothes, she’s being photographed.”
“That social bond that binds the village together is disintegrating,” he said.
Mawlynnong’s concern for hygiene emerged about 130 years ago, during an outbreak of cholera.
With no medical facilities in the village, cleanliness was seen as vital to preventing the spread of disease.
“Christian missionaries told our ancestors: you can protect yourself from the plague [cholera] only if you maintain good hygiene, be it at home, with food, on your land, in the village, or your body,” Mr Khongthohrem said. Mawlynnong maintained its fastidious habits and has gone on to other achievements, eradicating open defecation, which is prevalent across much of rural India, with toilets for each of its 95 households.
The village was hailed by prime minister Narendra Modi in an autumn radio address imploring Indians to erase a poor national image of rubbish-strewn motorways and monuments, under the banner of his Clean India campaign. “I was amazed to know that there is such a village in remote north-east Meghalaya, which is so passionately carrying the mission of cleanliness for years,” he said.
While the pristine village is proud of its achievements, some believe it must limit visitor numbers to protect the well-being of its inhabitants.
“They must learn to regulate the number of tourists and to say no at some point,” Mr Laloo said.