Article URL: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260625-why-asias-cleanest-village-bans-tourists-on-sundays Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48899672 Points: 63…

Tourism transformed Mawlynnong's fortunes. But after decades of welcoming visitors, residents decided one day a week should belong to themselves. Each Saturday up to 1,000 tourists stream into Mawlynnong, a village of 600 people in India's far north-east. Visitors come to wander its flower-lined lanes, take selfies in its spotless streets and see whether it deserves the title that made it famous across India: Asia's cleanest village. But since January 2026, the black metal gates built across the single road leading into the village have been locked and guarded once a week. Residents have taken the unexpected step of banning day-trippers on Sundays, turning away tourists and the income they bring. Why would a village whose fortunes were transformed by tourism choose to shut itself off for one day each week? According to residents, the ban is an attempt to reclaim what they call "real village life". Located a few kilometres from the border with Bangladesh in India's Meghalaya state, Mawlynnong became a popular tourist attraction after Discover India magazine named it Asia's cleanest village in 2003. 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. Shortly after launching his national Clean India Mission campaign in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew further attention to the village in a radio address. "It has become the habit of the residents to maintain cleanliness," he said. "All this infuses confidence in us that our country will surely become clean through the efforts of fellow citizens."