Panel okays Rs 593-mn sanitation proposals for Leh, Kargil

The Union Territory High Powered Committee (UTHPC) meeting on the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U 2.0) reviewed various solid waste management projects in Leh and Kargil last week and approved proposals amounting to Rs 593.40 million for submission to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). In a detailed presentation, the officials concerned apprised the Advisor, Ladakh, of the action plans for various projects approved by respective district level committees, like city sanitation action plan for toilets, city sanitation action plan for used water management (Leh); city solid waste action plan (Kargil); municipal solid waste processing gap analysis and action plan; IEC/BCC action plan Leh/Kargil and capacity building action plan. Infrastructure development for wastewater reuse from the existing sewage treatment plants at benchmarked service levels was discussed and measures were proposed for making the infrastructure climate resilient and optimisation of renewable energy use. The necessity to make the existing public and community toilets winter-friendly with appropriate civil and electro-mechanical retrofitting, provision of insulated water supply and sewerage that works in sub-zero temperatures was discussed, as also the importance of Information Education Communication (IEC) and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) with sustained workshops/events targeting source segregation, generation reduction and disposal system by various stakeholders. See also: Consultant assigned to prepare project report on new STPKerala amends the Municipal Act to implement waste guidelines