For years, Lucknow- the city of Nawabs- felt buried under its own garbage. The city’s royal past couldn’t hide the reality: trash piled up everywhere, and by 2021, Lucknow had slipped to 41st place in India’s cleanliness rankings.
But the story didn’t end there. In just three years, Lucknow turned things around so dramatically that everyone took notice- right up to the Prime Minister and Anand Mahindra.
A big reason for this comeback? Indrajeet Singh. He’s a 2016-batch IAS officer who stepped in as Lucknow’s Municipal Commissioner in 2022. Singh isn’t the type to sit in an office and push paper. He actually hit the streets and got his hands dirty.
The Landfill that Became a Forest
Let’s talk about the Ghaila landfill. This wasn’t just any dump, it was a 26-meter-high monster, packed with more than 1.8 million tonnes of old waste. Locals had to live with toxic fumes and polluted water.
Most people would’ve just shifted the trash somewhere else. Not Singh. He launched a massive bioremediation drive. Heavy machines rolled in, deadlines were tight, and slowly but surely, that mountain disappeared. Now, the spot is a green park called Rashtriya Prerna Sthal- over 100,000 trees grow where garbage once rotted.
People call Singh “Kalyug ka Hanuman”- the one who literally moved a mountain.
Dignity First: Empowering the Sanitation Army
Singh knew that real change needed more than just machines. He saw that Lucknow’s 12,000 sanitation workers were exhausted and demoralized, mostly because their salaries were always late. His first big move? Fix the payroll mess.
Everyone started getting paid on time. Spirits lifted. He upgraded their equipment and, more importantly, treated them with respect. The difference showed up fast- the city got cleaner because the people cleaning it finally felt valued.
A Tech-Driven Revolution
Once the team was motivated, Singh brought in new tech. The city rolled out 1,250 electric vehicles for waste collection, which slashed emissions and made sure no area got left out. He fired up a 2,100-tonne processing plant that runs non-stop, so today’s trash doesn’t become tomorrow’s crisis.
Lucknow became the first “Net-Zero Waste City” in Uttar Pradesh. Now, waste isn’t something to hide- it’s turned into compost, fuel, or recycled materials. No more dumping it in pits.
The Transformation
The results speak for themselves. Lucknow shot up the rankings- from 41st to 3rd place in the country. Anand Mahindra even tweeted about it, saying Lucknow had become a symbol of what’s possible.
Indrajeet Singh’s story proves what happens when you mix tech, empathy, and old-fashioned hard work. He didn’t just clean up the city- he gave it a new life. For Lucknow, this isn’t just about garbage. It’s about hope, pride, and starting fresh.
