Mawlynnong, January 21

In the tiny hamlet of Mawlynnong in India’s far north east, plastic is banned and spotless paths are lined with flowers — but its reputation as Asia’s cleanest village has proved a mixed blessing.

Until 2003, no tourists visited the remote community of 500 inhabitants high in the mountains of Meghalaya state, which had no roads and was accessible only by foot. Home to the Khasi tribal people, Mawlynnong is famous for being a rare matrilineal society, where property and wealth are passed on from the mother to her youngest daughter and children take their mother’s surname.

In recent years the village has become known for another reason — its exceptional cleanliness, far removed from the noise and dirt of India’s big cities.

Bamboo dustbins stand at every corner, volunteers sweep the streets at regular intervals and large signs order visitors to throw away plastic packaging: littering is sternly frowned upon.

“We clean every day because our grandparents and our ancestors have taught us how to clean the village and the surrounding area, because it’s good for our health,” said Baniar Mawroh, a teenager sitting at the entrance of her small but gleaming family home.

After the village built its first road 12 years ago, a journalist from Discover India travel magazine wrote a now-infamous article naming it the cleanest village in Asia. The trickle of tourists became a flood, with visitors now reaching 250 a day in high season, swelling the village’s population by 50 percent. But the accolades have brought several downsides. Deepak Laloo, a former official of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum said the social bond which binds the village together was disintegrating.