Make urban areas litter free by 2022: J&K Chief Sec to H&UDD

JAMMU & KASHMIR: Chief Secretary of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, reviewed the functioning of the Department of Housing & Urban Development, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, on December 17. He assessed the progress made under various development programmes and initiatives. The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary, Department of Housing & Urban Development; Commissioner/Secretary, Jal Shakti Department; Commissioners of Jammu Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Municipal Corporation; Directors of Urban Local Bodies of Jammu and Kashmir; and other important officers.

During the two-day event, 553 developmental projects were identified, 345 of which have already been completed, and the rest will be finished by March 2022. The department was mandated by the Chief Secretary to ensure ‘litter-free’ metropolitan areas by 2022. He also directed deployment of scientific waste management procedures, such as safe landfill disposal. The department was recommended to use appropriate interventions to turn all legacy dumpsites into green zones. Dr Mehta emphasised the importance of year-round de-weeding drives in Dal and Nigeen lakes for overall cleanliness and preservation of the surroundings. This has to be done along with ensuring the implementation of the sewerage treatment protocols in a time-bound manner.

To further boost development in the urban areas, AMRUT 2.0 is being launched in the union territory. The goal is to provide water tap connections to all statutory towns; sewerage connections in 3 AMRUT mission cities; and rejuvenation of water bodies, green spaces and parks. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (URBAN) 2.0, the department will endeavour to make all cities and towns “garbage-free” by focusing on solid waste segregation and door-to-door collection in all urban local bodies. The department was also instructed to encourage rainwater harvesting techniques in urban areas in order to make the best use of rainwater and supplement dwindling water supply.

Furthermore, the Chief Secretary stressed the financial and environmental viability of development projects/models being implemented by various local government organisations, and oversaw the development of guiding principles and framework. He urged that the department place a specific emphasis on capacity building and training for both elected officials and workers of all metropolitan local governments. Additionally, the department has been mandated to promote IT-enabled citizen services by upgrading IT infrastructure and back-end service support in order to make existing government services more accessible.