Hingoli launches initiative to rate households on eco-friendly & civic practices to promote sustainability

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Hingoli district administration has initiated the ‘5-Star Hingolikar' campaign to encourage eco-friendly habits and promote sustainability in the drought-affected Marathwada region's semi-urban and urban areas.Under the initiative, each house will be screened on five parameters -- the availability of rainwater harvesting systems, greenery, waste segregation at source, installation of rooftop solar panels and timely payment of property and other taxes to the municipal body.Newly appointed collector Rahul Gupta, who came up with the initiative, said the programme was being implemented across all municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Hingoli district. "We'll conduct an intensive door-to-door survey over the next two months to assess and rate households, government offices, educational institutions, and private establishments based on five sustainability and civic responsibility parameters," said Gupta. He said, "We plan to incentivize high-performing households and showcase them as models for others to follow."Each property will be assessed and assigned a star rating based on how many of the five benchmarks it meets. District officials said citizens would be informed about their rating and encouraged to improve them by adopting the required measures, following the survey. "Not only will existing structures be rated, but this model will also be applied to all new constructions in the district," said a senior official from the collectorate. "We will motivate and guide citizens to incorporate these five eco-friendly practices during the planning and building stages," the official said.