Kaziranga: ‘Swachhta Green Leaf Rating System’ was launched jointly by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India on February 22 at Kaziranga in the presence of eminent personalities from the Government of India and Assam. Winnie Mahajan, secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti explained the unique rating system which aims to promote safe and green sanitation practices to the owners of hotels, homestays and resorts located in and around Kaziranga.
The rating system aims to create awareness about scientific waste management system and its significance in promoting safe sanitation practices in the Tourism industry i.e. the hotels, resorts and homestays. Under this rating system, hotels, resorts and homestays will self-evaluate their existing waste management and sanitation related infrastructure based on set criteria and submit their findings to the local administration. After this, a sub-divisional verification committee will physically verify the criteria, based on which a district level committee will assign green leaf ratings of either 1, 3 or 5 green leaves on the basis of the marks obtained by them. The Bokakhat Sub-divisional verification committee has already completed the process of verification of 11 hotels, resorts and homestays situated around Kaziranga under the ‘Swachhata Green Leaf Rating System’. While 4 hotels secured 1-leaf rating, 5 hotels have secured 3-leaf rating.
Notably, it was found that 2 locations, namely Diphlu River Lodge and Medini Homestay qualified for 5-star rating under the system. They have adopted unique practices to avoid use of plastic such as use of betel nut leaf plates, jute slippers, wooden handwash dispensers, cotton mats etc. The Swachhta Green Leaf rating certificate was distributed to the hotel owners by the District Commissioner, Golaghat yesterday at Forest Convention Centre, Kohora. It is expected that the Swacchta Green Leaf rating will make both the hotel owners and tourists more aware of the scientific methods of solid waste, greywater and blackwater management. The rating will be tied up to be displayed on online hotel booking websites to improve awareness of customers and attract environmentally conscious tourists, stated a press release.
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