Sanitation is a State subject under 7^th schedule of the constitution. Hence, it is the responsibility of State/ULBs to plan, design, execute and operate sanitation projects in the urban areas of the country. However, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has been facilitating by providing additional support to deal with various issues concerning garbage, waste and sewage.

Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) on October 2, 2014 with the objective Open Defecation Free (ODF) and for scientific processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the urban areas of the country. To carry forward the progress made, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U) 2.0 has been launched on October 1, 2021 for a period of five years with a vision of scientific solid waste management, sustainable sanitation and a new component for treatment of used water i.e., Used Water Management (UWM) for Cities with less than one lakh population.

Government of India also launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) in 500 cities on June 25, 2015 with objective to improve the sewerage coverage and septage management and providing safe drinking water universally, in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) with population of one lakh or more, all Capital cities, all Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) cities, identified cities on the stem of the main rivers, hill states, islands and tourist destinations. The second phase, i.e., AMRUT 2.0 has been launched on October 1, 2021 to carry forward the progress achieved in providing universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities.

Central Share (CS) assistance under SBM-U 2.0 is given to States/UTs for establishing of various types of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management plants like, Waste-to-Compost (WtC), Waste-to-Energy (WtE), Bio-methanation, Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) and legacy waste dumpsites remediation, construction & demolition waste, etc. Further, under UWM component, CS funds is given for (i) setting up of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs)/ STP-cum-FSTP; (ii) laying Interception and Diversion (I&D) structures including provision of pumping stations and pumping main/gravity main upto STP; (iii) procuring adequate numbers of septic tank desludging equipments.

 The CS funds under SBM-U 2.0 is released to the States which further distributes funds along with the State Share to the ULBs. As such city-wise details are not maintained at national level.

Under AMRUT, networked underground sewerage systems; including augmentation of existing sewerage systems, augmentation, rehabilitation of existing STPs and construction of new STPs are admissible components.

For technical assistance to States/ULBs, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has brought out the Manuals on Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Systems and Solid Waste Management and also issued various Advisories and Guidelines for choosing appropriate technologies to manage sewage and solid waste. AMRUT 2.0 operational guidelines provides for launching of Technology sub-Mission to identify proven and potential global technologies in water sector. The Ministry also provides handholding through Capacity building (CB) and technical assistance to the States/UTs by periodic monitoring & review of progress of projects through regular video conferences/ webinars/ workshops/ site-visits etc. Mission Directorate is also providing hand holding support to the States and ULBs from time to time to resolve issues and eliminate bottlenecks for timely completion of projects.

The progress made in management of garbage etc by the States/ UTs under SBM-U is regularly assessed for which Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) have been developed for certification of ULBs as Open Defecation Free (ODF), ODF+, ODF++ and Star ratings of Garbage Free Cities (GFC).  Tracking the progress of SBM-U and AMRUT in States/ UTs is done by periodical review and assessment by video conferences, webinars, workshops etc and also through the dedicated SBM-U and AMRUT portals. Project implementation at field level under AMRUT is assessed by Independent Review and Monitoring Agencies (IRMAs), appointed by each State and UT and also Pey Jal Survekshan assess the cleaniness and waste management progress of cities.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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RJ

(Release ID: 1943232)