Cleanliness gets urban look

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second edition of 'Swachh Bharat Mission' with a budgetary allocation of Rs 1,41,678 crore that would be implemented over a period of five years from 2021.

This scheme will focus on complete faecal sludge management, waste water treatment, source segregation, management of waste from urban construction and also include bio-remediation of legacy dump sites.

"For further 'Swachhata' (Cleanliness) of urban India, we intend to focus on complete faecal sludge management and waste water treatment, source segregation of garbage, reduction in single-use plastic, air pollution, constructively managing from construction sites, demolition activities and bioremediation of all legacy dump sites," Sitharaman said.

According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, five editions of 'Swachh Survekshan' (cleanliness survey) have been conducted so far. The first survey which was piloted in 2016 has grown manifold. It started with 73 (with million plus population) cities in 2016 and covered 4,242 cities which participated in the fifth edition of the Swachh Survekshan conducted in 2020.

To tackle the problem of air pollution, Sitharaman informed that the Centre has allocated Rs 2,217 crores in the budget. The Central government will also launch 'Mission Poshan 2.0' and 'Jal Jeevan Mission Urban', she added.