PM launched renewed schemes to lead development of Indian urban spaces

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched two flagship missions on Friday, October 1 – the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U) 2.0 and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0. These flagship programmes of the Government of India address the ambitious challenge to make all the cities in India garbage-free and water-secure. These are part of India’s journey towards achieving sustainable development goals by 2030.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in reference to the launch of these programmes that the SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 programmes signify a step forward in the march towards effectively addressing the challenges of rapidly urbanising India. SBM 2.0 is being introduced to make all cities garbage free by ensuring grey and black water management in all cities except those covered under AMRUT. The programme aims to make all urban local bodies (ULBs) with a population of less than one lakh Open Defecation Free.  It will also focus on source segregation of solid waste, utilising the principles of the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. It will work on introducing scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste, and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management in all ULBs.

AMRUT 2.0 is all about providing 100% coverage of water supply to all households in around 4,700 urban local bodies. It aims to provide about 2.68 crore tap connections and 100% coverage of sewerage and septage connections, which will benefit more than 10.5 crore people in urban areas. Moreover, AMRUT 2.0 will promote conservation and rejuvenation of surface and ground water bodies by adopting the principles of circular economy. This programme strives to promote data-led governance in water management and Technology Sub-Mission to leverage latest global technologies and skills.