A village in Mayurbhanj where cleanliness and Bhit Potaw paintings are a way of life

Bhubaneswar: Cleanliness is a way of life at Babojola, a non-descript village in Mayurbhanj district — so much so that littering, spitting and smoking are completely banned and there’s even a dedicated festival to propagate the idea further.

Each of the thatched houses in this village of 70 Santal families is inspired by nature, and there’s a dustbin placed at every 30 metres for people to dispose of their waste. “Cleanliness is a value that is deeply ingrained in the people of Babojola. Even a child learns how to keep his surroundings clean from a young age,” said Sahitya Akademi awardee writer Damayanti Besra, who hails from Babojola.


Currently, the villagers are busy preparing for Pataparba festival, to be celebrated on Feb 15 and Feb 16. Houses are lent a fresh coat of paint, designs are drawn afresh and people from nearby villages visit Babojola to take part in a traditional song-and-dance repertoire through which the idea of cleanliness is propagated.

Enhancing the concept, villagers have installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras throughout the village to keep vigil on festival visitors and dissuade them from littering. Violators will either be asked to clean up their litter or pay a fine.

Besra added that the walls of each house are decorated with paintings of flowers and leaves, called ‘Bhit Potaw’ in local parlance, by the womenfolk. Even the colours used in the paintings are derived naturally from riverside clay, stones, tree bark and flowers. Interestingly, the ‘Bhit Potaw’ designs of all the 70 houses in the village are unique, and none resembles another.

The responsibility of keeping Babojola clean rests with every villager. Women sweep the village thrice a day and collect trash in bins, which are cleared by local youths the next day. While consumption of gutka and use of plastic are looked down upon, ‘no smoking’ signs are put up at every corner of the village.

“The drive to maintain hygiene was started by a local school teacher and Santali writer, Madhusudan Marandi, 15 years ago. He wanted to convert Babojola into a model village. Since then, every villager took it up as a responsibility to realise his vision by keeping the village clean,” said Sundar Besra, a villager.

Sixty villagers, including Sundar, formed a club to oversee the cleanliness drive and collect funds for installation of CCTVs, dustbins and solar panels in the village. “Many of the local youths are employed, and others are into agriculture. We contribute whatever funds we can for the purpose,” he added.