Govt launches second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission

The Ministry of Urban Affairs is launching the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission at an outlay of Rs 1.41 lakh crore with a focus on sludge management, wastewater treatment, source segregation of garbage, decrease in single-use plastics and air pollution control via waste management in construction and demolition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. The SBM (U) flagship mission of the government has completed seven years with a mission allocation of Rs 14,013 crore. SBM-U aims to make the entire urban India Open Defecation Free (ODF) and 100% control of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) produced. As of date, out of 4,372 urban local bodies, 3305 ULBs have been certified as ODF+ and 4,369 ULBs have been certified as ODF. Additionally, a cleanliness survey, Swachh Survekshan (SS), is being conducted yearly to instil a healthy competitive spirit amongst ULBs and states by ranking them based on their population. Besides releasing Central Share (CS) of funds to states and Union Territories (UTs), the Centre has proposed ODF+, ODF++ and Water+ protocols to give further impetus to support the ODF results. The entire value chain of sanitation is addressed under these protocols. The PM will also begin AMRUT 2.0 on the same day. The government will begin the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) for Rs 2.8 lakh crore to guarantee a universal water supply in all 4,378 urban local bodies across the nation. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is the first focused national water Mission and was first started in June 2015 in 500 cities comprising 60% of the urban population. All cities having a population of more than 1 lakh are included. Under AMRUT, 1,831 parks covering 3,700 acre have been built, and 85 lakh street lights have been replaced, leading to energy savings of 185.33 crore units. The Ministry of Urban Affairs said that there is an eight-fold rise in the expenditure on urban development in the last six years (2015-2021), around Rs 11.83 lakh crore compared to Rs 1.57 lakh crore from 2004 to 2014. Image SourceAlso read: Swachh Bharat Mission: Govt releases ODF Plus manuals under phase-II Also read: Govt allocates Rs 40,700 cr for Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin