Mawlynnong, India, transformed by tourism, bans visitors on Sundays

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260625-why-asias-cleanest-village-bans-tourists-on-sundays

by gmays • 9 days ago

79 92 9 days ago

nelox• 9 days ago

Ah the age old story of something being loved to death.

rayiner5• 9 days ago

In a country known for its lack of sanitation, this is no small feat. But in Mawlynnong, children are taught to tidy up from a young age, with many taking to the streets each morning before school to sweep the town of dead leaves and empty rubbish bins. Villagers see to the disposal of biodegradables and take pride in public landscaping.

Culture is real.

hn_throwaway_992• 9 days ago

This is kind of fascinating to me because the few times I visited India I was completely gobsmacked by the insane levels of trash and pollution such that I never wanted to return. Like Gurugram reminded me of some type of ecological disaster dystopia out of Blade Runner. So I was particularly glad to see this story was about an Indian village and not one of the usual "amazingly clean Asian city" suspects, e.g. Singapore or somewhere in Japan.

geodel• 9 days ago

Yes, on one hand its fascinating, on other its about impossible before end of universe that it would be possible to apply India wide. Right on with Gurugram observation. The latest government way to fix all issue is to change name of the place to something from "glorious Indian past".

In terms of actually responding to eco-disaster I don't think people are there yet to see error and mend their ways. I do not expect this to change at least for next couple of decades.

Rendello• 9 days ago

I've read that Japan had some crazy pollution and littering until regulations and campaigns in the 70s. Alright, I'll admit, I saw it on a Youtube short [1].

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the change on the Internet (at least not the English Internet), but this Japanese guy's anecdotes seem to corroborate it [2]. It makes sense, a lot of countries started taking pollution and littering more seriously around the 70s. It looks like that's when Japan started regulating it seriously [3]:

from 24 November to 18 December 1970, 14 pollution control bills were passed into law [...] overnight, Japan was transformed from a country with meagre environmental regulations, to one of the strictest in the OECD.

1. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PP60G-lMiDA

2. https://tour-hiro.com/blog/culture/5721/

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution_Diet

alephnerd9• 9 days ago

Like Gurugram reminded me of some type of ecological disaster dystopia out of Blade Runner

That's because of zoning. Much of Gurgaon isn't zoned as a municipality but as villages or agricultural land, which means there is no unified municipal government in vast swathes of the city. This is the same issue with Bangalore.

Other large Indian cities (eg. Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc) are nowhere near as bad

So I was particularly glad to see this story was about an Indian village

My ancestral family is from village and small towns, and counterintuitively (edit: for people who do not know India) they tend to be much cleaner because they have more formally defined municipal and local governments.

Of course, this depends state to state, like everything else in India.

Edit: quick explaination of local government in India

Local government in India is heavily dependent on whether your block is zoned as "rural", "urban", "agricultural", or "industrial".

In the first generation of megacities like Bangalore and Delhi NCR, zoning never actually got updated because a lot of urbanization happened before zoning caught up, and changing zoning could impact your tax burden, as agricultural income isn't taxed in India.

So if you are a landlord (eg.) running a backpacker hostel in Delhi, if your land was rezoned from agricultural to urban it would also be reassessed from a tax burden perspective so landlords have an incentive to fight rezoning tooth and nail.

Additionally, a lot of areas that are colloquially called (eg.) Bangalore aren't actually within the borders of the city of Bangalore but historically unzoned or miszoned land.

In smaller towns and the newer generation of megacities (eg. Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune) zoning was more tightly enforced and local governments are more aligned becuase they are much more homogenous.

This is something the PM Office is now starting to address [0], but will also depend on local and state governments. Some states like Kerala, HP, TN, Punjab, and Gujarat have been more proactive about fixing zoning, but others like Delhi and Karnataka have been less inclined.

[0] https://eacpm.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/EAC-PM-Worki...

thesmtsolver2• 9 days ago

Most western cities were trays filled till a few decades. Some like SF and Seattle still have zones that resemble a war zone. Have you been to Skid row in LA? Yeah, culture is real.

alephnerd9• 9 days ago

Culture is real

Mawlynnong is barely 3,000 feet from Bangladesh, and the nearest town to it in Bangladesh (Jaflong - roughly 5 to 10 miles away) is much dirtier [0] despite also being inhabited by the same ethnic group (Khasi) as well.

The main difference is, Meghalaya has much stronger local government whereas it's much weaker in Sylhet.

Given that both Jaflong and Mawlynnong are inhabited by ethnic brethren of the same culture, the cultural argument clearly doesn't hold in comparison to the state capacity argument.

[0] https://maps.app.goo.gl/knutXG7jePr4UhFm8

selimthegrim• 9 days ago

You might have done the impossible and actually gotten rayiner to concede a point.

rayiner5• 9 days ago

I’m not attributing the difference to aspects of culture common to ethnic groups. I’m pointing out that the article itself attributes the benefit to acculturation:

But in Mawlynnong, children are taught to tidy up from a young age, with many taking to the streets each morning before school to sweep the town of dead leaves and empty rubbish bins. Villagers see to the disposal of biodegradables and take pride in public landscaping.

Socializing children to have certain values and habits is exactly how you create culture.

doublerabbit2• 9 days ago

Do not spit" signs
Some tourists have complained about the ban, saying it should have been implemented on a weekday instead

These should not be a thing. What is it that makes folk feel so entitled?

"Lack of litter bins"; isn't an excuse. I've seen folk stand next to a litter bin, light up and then throw the cigarettes end to the ground.

You're literally standing next to a litter bin!

It should be common sense not to spit nor to litter. Spitting is the worse and I see it all the time here in the UK.

fhdkweig2• 9 days ago

It really bothers me when they spit on days where it is below freezing. It becomes a slip hazard on sidewalks.

tekla• 9 days ago

Its so mindboggling. Littering wssnt even an option in my head as a child. Always carry your trash until you can properly dispose.

What the hell is wrong with people?

sysworld• 9 days ago

Same here. I find it hard to understand people who litter.

RetroTechie• 7 days ago

Netherlands back in the day had signs saying:

"Laat niet, als dank voor het aangenaam verpoozen, den eigenaar van 't bosch de schillen en de doozen"

(old-ish Dutch spelling. From ~1930). Translated:

"Leave not as thanks for your pleasant stay, the owner of the forest the peels and the boxes". (google for pix, they're nice!)

Today, I'd be a happy camper if it were just peels & cardboard since both bio-degrade. Unlike most other litter (smoking-related and balloons among my 'favourites').

But it's definitely a cultural thing. Learn kids @ a young age, problem goes away.

foxglacier4• 9 days ago

How do you reconcile you complaint about complaining about the tourist ban with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says people have the right to freedom of movement within the borders of each state?

doublerabbit2• 9 days ago

Nothing is stopping you from travelling within the borders. A village is nothing more than a province within the state.

If the law ruled: "you may not traverse through the state on Sundays"; then one could argue that is a breach of human rights.

However, the last time I checked, detours exist. Enabling you to bypass a village that may be closed on Sundays.

If you're a tourist and a village says no, why can't you obey that, why does that upset you?

weikju• 9 days ago

Does that Declaration give you an inalienable right to do anything you please? I doubt it. As the old saying goes, your freedom stops where someone else’s freedom starts.

Or in Seinfeld speak, “we live in a society!!!”

Have to consider others not just oneself. That’s the price of freedom and being responsible about it.

The alternative is a nanny state or anarchy.

mothballed• 9 days ago

India doesn't give a shit about that. They have restricted civil areas that require visitor clearance even for citizens.

hulitu• 9 days ago

Ask the US Army. /s

mc32• 9 days ago

What in hell? I haven’t seen or heard people spit on sidewalks other than some homeless people in ages.

In parts of Asia where people chew betel nut, of course that’s a different story -they put the old west custom of spitting tobacco chew to shame.

fouc2• 9 days ago

I've got a suspicion that it was more common a few decades ago. I saw a bit of that in China back in 2007 but I wouldn't be surprised if it's less of a thing now.

Eueudhsbsj323• 9 days ago

Have have you been to many countries in Asia recently?

Spitting is still super common in many cities, especially in India. I've had a few taxi drivers who would open their door periodically to spit on the ground (and no they weren't chewing anything).

rayiner5• 9 days ago

Its rooted in culture and how people are socialized to relate to public spaces and the people around them. Here’s Lee Kuan Yew talking about the same problem he faced in Singapore at first: https://medium.com/@barronqasem/the-moral-behind-lee-kuan-ye... (“The difficult part was getting the people to change their habits so that they behaved more like first world citizens, not like third world citizens spitting and littering all over the place.”).

I only really have experience with Americans and Bangladeshis, but in my experience Americans are Nazis about littering and recycling. I was talking with a law school professor once after class and dropped a diet coke bottle into the trash in front of her. Without missing a beat she reached into the trash bin to take it out and threw it into the recycling bin.

triceratops• 9 days ago

in my experience Americans are Nazis about littering and recycling

I don't know about that. I've seen many a poorly sorted recycle bin in my life. Americans are definitely in the upper quartile, maybe even the upper decile, of the world as a whole. Among the developed world the country may be just about average.

I believe glass recycling is segregated by color in some countries in Europe. And they take that really seriously.

jerlam• 9 days ago

in my experience Americans are Nazis about littering and recycling.

America is a really big place.

My "progressive" American city has a lot of litter, because there is no money to clean it up or punish litterers.

I've been in quite a few American cities where recycling bins simply do not exist.

arijun• 9 days ago

stand next to a litter bin, light up and then throw the cigarettes end to the ground.

If the litter bin doesn’t have an ashtray (like most in the US), maybe they were worried about starting a trash fire?

kristopolous• 9 days ago

Cleaner than Japan? That's something...

fhdkweig2• 9 days ago

cleaner than Singapore or Thailand would really be something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_sales_ban_in_Singa...

jazzpush2• 9 days ago

Reading the title generates imagery of a city in Japan being overrun by foreigners.

The actual content is about a self-proclaimed 'Asia's cleanest village' in India, banning Sunday visits from other domestic Indians.

Probably wouldn't be a popular story if this was revealed in the title.

scythe• 9 days ago

On the contrary, my first thought upon reading the title was "I hope it's not just Japan again". No disrespect to Japan, but articles about Japanese tidiness are a dime a dozen.

tom_2• 9 days ago

The article is on the BBC site, so Asia means India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/etc.

Japan is Japan.

tom_2• 9 days ago

The new editorialised title is an improvement, given that most of HN's readership is probably not in the UK, especially not at time of writing: 0130 BST on a Tuesday.

angry_octet3• 9 days ago

It should be clear that this is about the stress that visiting Indians bring. And their trash.

But it also highlights how you need to restrict access to move up the value chain. Hordes of bus tourists who eat elsewhere or bring take away contribute little economically, you can sell some trinkets. People with a hotel booking are also likely to eat locally.

Venice faces a similar situation with cruise ships and Airbnbs raising the price of housing. They should be capping cruise ship numbers, and a weekend break would be good too.

nsvd2• 9 days ago

Surely a tax would be a better incentive mechanism than a hard cap.

angry_octet3• 9 days ago

They already have a levy on cruise ships, but it doesn't really increase the amenity for the citizens. If you can bid for places in the cap you have a dual effect, limiting congestion and encouraging longer stays, and selecting for higher value ships.

You could tweak it in many ways, like additional levy that can be recouped by spending on food in local restaurants (vs shipboard all-inclusive meals).

Dylan168072• 9 days ago

But it also highlights how you need to restrict access to move up the value chain. Hordes of bus tourists who eat elsewhere or bring take away contribute little economically, you can sell some trinkets. People with a hotel booking are also likely to eat locally.

I don't think this fits the story at all. They just want a day off. The rest of the week is unrestricted.

angry_octet3• 9 days ago

That is a sensitive messaging campaign, and no doubt true as well. But the effect is that rich people who want to visit on the weekend will book a local hotel stay rather than day trip, and as a bonus they will not have to deal with crowds.

skeledrew• 9 days ago

But in Mawlynnong, children are taught to tidy up from a young age

This needs to be a thing everywhere. Education works to resolve most - if not all - social issues.

irjustin• 9 days ago

I know statements like this mean well, but man it's so frustrating. It's the same thing as telling a person with depression to "just be happy".

If it were so simple this would've been solved nation wide by Modi's 2014 address.

Where does this education come from? Leaders, but leaders are product of their social environment. To create this change means to go against the norm meaning someone or a few have to break the trend. Then that belief has to take hold in others and THEN the real test begins. It has to be generational, the new generation, by yes, education, needs it to be truth as opposed to a new way. The old guard must die.

Only then will you "solve all social issues by education". Don't even get me started on scale. It works on a village or small country, but more? or a 2nd issue?

quadrifoliate10• 9 days ago

You hit the nail on the head. It's not that simple. I was born and raised in India and I have seen hordes of supposedly "educated" Indian people with degrees littering and making a nuisance of themselves; and seen a lot of Indians who didn't have a formal education be much more conscientious about cleanliness and such because their family raised them that way.

It's some combination of moral education, culture, science, and psychology. Even religion can play a role, especially in India where it's so important for a majority of the people.

satvikpendem5• 9 days ago

More like, the education thus far was insufficient, not that it's not simple to just have education; it is that simple, but simple does not mean easy or without effort. Japan instills cleanliness from early schooling, that's what needs to be done in India too. Not just throwing up our hands and saying "it's not that simple."

ambicapter• 9 days ago

If it were so simple this would've been solved nation wide by Modi's 2014 address.

What? How is this supposed to work?

Eueudhsbsj323• 9 days ago

Hopefully the process is sped up with the rapid increase in Indians traveling internationally, and they'll start to realize and feel embarrassment/shame at the state of cleanliness in their own country.

atourgates• 9 days ago

More accurately, "bans day trippers on Sundays."

Visitors who book guesthouse rooms in Mawlynnong through Saturday and Sunday are exempt from the Sunday ban.

fouc2• 9 days ago

bans only 1 day? man, I'd expand that to include mondays and tuesdays

quadrifoliate10• 9 days ago

As someone born and brought up in India, I'm a little conflicted about this.

Of course it is true that a lot of Indians have no civic sense, and will spit, litter, and generally make a noisy nuisance of themselves in this quiet village. On the surface it seems to be a great story about that nuisance being kicked out one day of the week.

At the same time, this is part of...India. It seems questionable legally, and also morally, to just kick out people from the rest of the country and even the state on a a specific day. Your village benefits to some degree from their taxes. How would it be if the villagers were locked into their village for that day and not allowed to travel outside?

Is the solution to a lack of civic sense really just to make more and more of these clean enclaves? Will they finally end up expanding and covering more of the country? I would honestly feel better about this if the entire state of Meghalaya had some kind of cleanliness drive and a tourist tax.

I don't have any easy solutions. If I did, they would have occurred to someone in India and it would be a lot cleaner by now.

thewhitetulip8• 9 days ago

Visitors who book guesthouse rooms in Mawlynnong through Saturday and Sunday are exempt from the Sunday ban

Did you read the article?

quadrifoliate10• 9 days ago

I did, a requirement to book a guesthouse room through the weekend does not make the moral/legal issues any better.

Imagine that some town in the US did this; and shut down otherwise public roads to anyone who is not a resident or a guest of a hotel in the town for the weekend, citing visitor nuisance as the reason.

Would you feel better about it because "well you can just book a hotel for the weekend"?

KennyBlanken• 9 days ago

The village is heavily Christian. This is about forcing their religious views on everyone else in the village. The bit about tourists is just a smokescreen.

Mawlynnong, India, transformed by tourism, bans visitors on Sundays

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