Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas, while talking about India’s exemplary journey to become Open Defecation Free (ODF), noted that when the Hon’ble Prime Minister announced the Swachh Bharat Mission from the Red Fort on 15 In August 2014, he spoke about the need to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in October 2019. Such a massive transformation was never imagined before.
Despite a poor performance in sanitation till then, India achieved the ODF target in the next five years as the mission evolved to become a ‘Jan Andolan’ instead of a typical sarkari programme. Addressing the launch event of Swachh Shehar Samvad and Tech Exhibition today, the Housing and Urban Affairs Minister said that as a result of efforts under SBM, all 4,372 ULBs (100%) in India have now been declared free defecation (ODF). Not only have we built more than 73.45 lakh individual and community toilets, we have also restored dignity and health to millions of urban poor, including Divyang Jan.
At the same time, from just 18% in 2014 to 73% currently. We are now accelerating the implementation to reach 100% saturation as soon as possible. Swachh Shehar Samvad & the Tech Exhibition was inaugurated here today by Shri Hardeep S. Puri. Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), senior officers of the Ministry, representatives of State Governments and other stakeholders were also present at the event.
Shri Hardeep S. Puri noted the importance of ‘waste to wealth’ for circular economy and the Government’s efforts to transform India into a ‘garbage-free India’ and mentioned that “India embarks on its next Swachhata journey under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 . We are now focusing on transitioning from an ODF India to a ‘Garbage Free India’. He further added that the second iteration of the mission was launched with a total cost of almost 2.5 times the cost of the first mission.
The increased budget is a confirmation of the trust reposed in the government by the people of India. Following the ethos of SBM (U), the overarching principle towards this further journey of Swachhata is based on the philosophy of ‘waste to wealth’ and embraces the principles of the circular economy as its guiding principles. During the event, the Minister highlighted key actions and initiatives under the Swachh Bharat Mission. He mentioned setting up a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in each city to ensure further sorting, processing or recycling of separated dry waste and setting up a Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste processing/upcycling facility.
Talking about the ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsite Challenge’, the minister said that all the old dumping sites containing 16 million metric tonnes of waste and occupying 15,000 acres of prime land would be rehabilitated during the mission period. I am proud that the MoHUA has approved action plans for over 1,000 old landfills – including those in Delhi – containing 12.8 million metric tonnes of waste, with a total project cost of over Rs 8,000 crore, of which the Center is contributing nearly 3 000 crore rupees.
According to him, biomethanation plants and power plants for the energy use of waste are being built in big cities. The Swachh Shehar Samvad & the Tech Exhibition inaugurated today is a capacity building initiative of Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 to equip states and cities with an understanding of all recent developments in waste management. It includes high-quality technical and administrative discussions specifically focused on topics related to municipal solid waste and liquid waste management to enable states and cities to reflect on strategies, best practices and challenges on their journey to zero waste.
Samvad also includes the Tech Exhibition, which showcases the best models in waste management from across the country. Around 35 technology providers are demonstrating cutting-edge technologies in the field of waste management. Working models on various aspects of solid waste management/sanitation such as IT and GIS based applications, water management, packaging and 3R (Reduce-Recycle-Reuse) options, municipal solid waste processing, mobile and portable units, construction are on display and demolition waste and remediation measures. There are also thematic experiential exhibitions on mission initiatives including garbage-free cities, aspiration toilets, water management, etc.
