Shillong: A six-member team of prospective village tourism operators from Vandri village located in Dediapada Taluka of Narmada District visited Mawlynnong.
This village in Gujarat is inhabited by tribals and the population is roughly about 2000. Vandri is one of seven villages adopted by Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.
The team spent Friday night at Mawlynnong and the entire day Saturday to explore the village.
Speaking to this reporter the team leader said the idea of visiting Mawlynnong was to take back some lessons on how to do a similar village tourism project back home.
“We were so impressed to learn from the people of Mawlynnong that cleanliness is part of their culture. We spent time interacting with the Village Council and came to know that they had played a very pro-active role in promoting cleanliness and good governance in their village. It is a model worth replicating,” a member of the delegate said.
When asked how they came to know about Mawlynnong the delegate said they read about the cleanest village from travel blogs, adding that since Vandri has similar hills and rivers, they decided to come to Mawlynnong for a study tour.
The delegation was accompanied by local tour operator, DD Laloo.