30-Jul-2022: Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 organizes SwachhTalks episode on ‘Managing Plastic Waste’.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, on 29th July, 2022 organized the fourth edition of SwachhTalks, the national peer learning webinar series on the topic of ‘Managing Plastic Waste’. The aim of this SwachhTalks episode was to nudge discussions around the need to effectively manage plastic waste to achieve the Mission’s goal of creating ‘Garbage Free Cities’.

While speaking to the nation through his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ series, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has repeatedly emphasized on the need for citizens to come together to collectively combat plastic pollution and adopt Swachhata as a way of life.

The first announcement for phasing out single-use plastic was made on August 15, 2019 by the PM and was also reiterated during his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address. PM Modi called for a national movement against Single Use Plastics as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhiji’s 150th birth anniversary. He said, “When we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th anniversary we’ll not only be dedicating open defecation free India to him, but also kick-starting a mass movement for making India plastic-free… Let birth anniversary of Gandhi ji serve as an inspiration for all of us to curb single-use plastic.”

Since then, Indian cities and States have taken steps to enforce the Single Use Plastics ban from July 1, 2022. Nearly a month since the ban has been enforced, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0’s SwachhTalks episode invited cities, States, organizations, and Swachhata Champions from across the country to take stock of the progress being made on managing plastic waste.

Ms. Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission Urban, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs highlighted India’s role as an emerging global leader in the field of sustainable sanitation and waste management and contextualized the progress being made across cities. She said, “India is crucially emerging as a strong voice in climate & environmental matters. The PM’s recently launched Lifestyle for Environment Movement (LiFE) is another landmark campaign that advocates for the same.  The LiFE Movement is all about making the right choices and this is a guiding philosophy of the Mission as well. The ban on Single Use Plastics (SUP) is a landmark step in adopting eco-friendly lifestyles that are in harmony with nature. We are also witnessing unprecedented mass movements and Jan Andolan to create awareness regarding the same. This is just the beginning.”

Dr. Satyendra Kumar, Director, Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change talked about Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, its respective amendments, and the revised Extended Producers Responsibility framework. He highlighted that the SUP items that have been banned in July 2022 are those that have ‘high littering potential and low utility’. The need of the hour, according to him, is to find sustainable, economic, and accessible alternatives to plastic.

Ms. Anindita Mitra, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh spoke about the unique initiatives undertaken by Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to enforce the ban on Single-Use Plastics. Initiatives such as ‘Back to Basics’ to promote sustainable alternatives to SUPs, ‘Har Gaadi Bin-Har Gaadi Bag’ to prevent littering on roads and highways, and ‘Swachhata Ki Pathshala’ to mobilize youth to align with the goals of the Mission were taken by the Union Territory. On the other hand, the State Mission Directorate tackled the availability and distribution of SUPs by levying fines on shops, incentivizing market associations to become plastic-free, and by ensuring adequate availability of eco-friendly bags made of alternative materials. Other Extensive campaign and awareness activities such as ‘Selfie With Bottle’ to promote steel and glass bottles instead of plastic bottles, and public street plays have contributed to the successful implementation of the ban in Chandigarh.

Providing more perspectives on the ongoing Jan Andolan for Swachhata, Mr. Ripu Daman Bevli, also known as the Plog Man of India, spoke about the need to first ‘Refuse’ plastic items, before we ‘Reduce, Reuse or Recycle’ them.  Speaking about linking Swachhata with Swasthya, he said, “Bringing together the fitness with cleanliness has led to the creation and popularization of plogging as a way through which we can strengthen the Jan Andolan to achieve the Mission’s goal of Garbage Free Cities.”

While talking about initiatives being undertaken by Zomato India and Amazon India towards becoming ‘Plastic Neutral Businesses’, Ms. Anjali Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Zomato, and Ms. Shubhra Jain, Public Policy- Sustainability Lead, Amazon India spoke about various initiatives being undertaken by their companies. Highlighting the importance of segregating waste at source to achieve the goal of ‘Garbage Free Cities’, Ms. Anjali mentioned that Zomato is committed to create a ‘Waste Free World’. She said, “Plastic material is cheap & available, spill proof, food safe, keeps food hot, all of which are important in the Indian market. But how do we prevent plastics from reaching landfills? Segregation at source and recycling are a must while managing plastic waste. Last year, Zomato made cutlery optional for every online food order. This was an initiative taken before the SUP ban came into force.”

Ms. Shubhra spoke about Amazon’s pledge to become a net zero carbon emissions company by 2040. She said, “Amazon India Is working on multiple solutions that will help reduce plastic waste. We aim to go beyond usage of Single Use Plastics specifically. We have started using paper-based mailers. We are also piloting and testing innovated paper- based tapes as part of our packaging instead of plastic tape.  Amazon India has also started the ‘packaging free shipment’ process, where the customer receives the product in the original producer's packaging rather than it being re-packaged by Amazon in our packaging.”

Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban 2.0 is committed to nurture startups in the sanitation and waste management industry. Two such startups, who are working on managing plastic waste, were invited to episode #4 of SwachhTalks.

Mr. Arpit Dhupar, CEO and Co-Founder of Dharaksha Ecosolutions Pvt. Ltd. spoke about the packaging product made by his startup that tackles the problem of air pollution and plastic pollution as it is biodegradable and decomposes within 60 days. He detailed the process of manufacturing the packaging material using stubble waste and mycelium, a type of fungi. He highlighted that the product has been able to pass ‘stress and drop tests’ performed by their industry partners. The environmental, economic, and social impacts of the packaging materials is a proof of credibility of alternative solutions to plastic are not only possible but also profitable, and scalable.

Plastic Waste Management industry heavily relies on the work done by the informal sector. Insights about the industry were shared by Mr. Akash Shetti from Plastics for Change. The organization enables global brands to source high quality recycled plastic from fair-trade verified and ocean-bound plastic certified supply chains. Plastics for Change is also working for welfare of the informal sector involved in collection, segregation, and recycling of plastic waste. Informal recycling sector usually does not have a consistent stable income or work assurance. Plastics for change is working to ensure that they get a consistent fair price, along with enabling the informal sector by giving them trainings about banking, insurance, and other crucial financial matters. 

25-Jun-2022: Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban 2.0 launches Revised Swachh Certification Protocols to sustain Open Defecation Free Status across Urban India

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA),has launched the Revised Swachh Certification Protocols for ODF, ODF+, ODF++, and Water+ certifications. The launch event, held at Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi yesterday was chaired by Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), and was attended by various stakeholders such as officials from States/UTs, Cities, and sector partners.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden Independence Day speech in 2014, the target of eliminating the menace of open defecation from India was made a national developmental priority. Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary was chosen as the day by which all cities and statutory towns in urban India were to become 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF). By increasing awareness among citizens and consistently improving the availability of sanitation facilities, the first phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban was successful in achieving this target and 100% of urban India was declared as Open Defecation Free. However, the mandate of the Mission goes beyond making urban India ODF.

Through SBM-U, India has scripted for itself a successful sanitation narrative that is a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Clean India. Seven years since the Mission was launched, lakhs of citizens, especially women, children and Divyaangs, have been provided dignity and safety. The need of the hour is to sustain these sanitation achievements while steadfastly moving towards new sanitation goals. The revamped revised protocol is aligned with SBM-2.0 objectives and is designed to ensure:

• No untreated used water or faecal sludge is discharged into the environment and all used water (including sewerage and septage, grey water and black water) is safely contained, transported, and treated, along with maximum reuse of treated used water, in all cities with less than 1 lakh population.
• To sustain open defecation free status in all statutory towns.

It contains provisions to encourage cities to have robust infrastructure with reliable Operation &Maintenance (O&M) mechanisms to achieve the goal of clean urban India. Key interventions against each certification are:

• ODF - Robust monitoring mechanism ensured by increasing the number of survey sample size and location types.
• ODF+ - Focus on functionality of CT/PT and innovative O&M business model for their sustainability in long run.
• ODF++ - Emphasis on mechanized cleaning of septic tanks and sewers. Safe collection & treatment of used water as well as safe management of faecal sludge.
• Water+ - The focus is on collection, transportation, treatment, and reuse of both used water and faecal sludge to prevent environmental pollution. (1) For towns having population more than 20,000, a minimum of 25% households to be connected to sewerage network. (2) Striving to achieve sustainability. (3) No untreated used water is let out in the environment.

While launching the Revised Swachh Certification Protocols, Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, emphasized on the need for certification processes to constantly evolve to become more comprehensive. He said, “the evolution of a Protocol is a continuous process, and we are committed to move forward with a simplified process. The Revised Swachh Certification Protocols is more functionality-oriented and has been simplified for officials and citizens to understand it better. The purpose of the protocol is not only to improve rankings of cities but to motivate cities to achieve the spirit of the Mission.”

Speaking at the launch event, Ms. Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs emphasized on the Mission’s focus on making certification processes simple and more robust. “In the sanitation sector, the one-size-fits-all approach will fail to adequately address the growing demands and needs of the sector. It is critical for all of us to continuously innovate to address sanitation-related challenges in unique ways. The focus should be on ensuring the operation and maintenance of all toilets so that we can sustain the ODF achievements of the country.”

The launch event was followed by the third episode of SwachhTalks, the Mission’s flagship initiative to promote peer learning of Cities and States. With the first episode titled ‘SafaiMitraSuraksha’ and the second episode titled ‘Swachhata Ki Jyot’ on IEC initiatives under the Mission, the third edition was titled “Swachh Certifications: The Face of Urban Transformation”, aimed to build the capacities of officials on unique and innovative toilet solutions being deployed by cities, states, and organizations.

Mr. Chandra Mohan Garg, Commissioner, Prayagraj shared sanitation-related strategies followed by the host city during Kumbh Mela in 2019 for Community & Public Toilets maintenance. Toilets made of Fibre Reinforced Plastic, & Prefab Steel Toilets were installed for easy maintenance. During the Kumbh Mela 2019, around 17,000 toilets were set up with no possibility of connecting the units to sewage networks. Thus, the city engaged more than 250 trucks and two temporary Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) for efficient sewage management. Additionally, the city organized extensive campaigns, being driven by over 1,500 volunteers, to ensure good behaviour during the Kumbh Mela.

While discussing the evolution of sanitation infrastructure in Vijayawada, Municipal Commissioner Mr. Swapnil Pundkar mentioned suitability of the Namma toilets model. These are modular toilets that can be installed within two months and offer a scope of modification at any time. Now, most spaces are on their way to become free of “yellow spots”.  Additionally, the ULB also shared its plan of action of incorporating air-conditioned 'Sulabh Complexes' with features such as sanitary pad vending machines to improve access to inclusive sanitation infrastructure in the city.

Also speaking at SwachhTalks was the Bhopal Municipal Commissioner, Mr. K.V.S. Choudhary who presented effective toilet models that are functional in the city such as SHE Lounge, Bio Toilets, and Fresh Rooms emphasizing on the importance given to ensuring dignity and access to sanitation for all.

Private sector organizations were also a part of the webinar. Mr. Sunil Agarwal from the Toilet Board Coalition spoke of the need to support growing startups in this space as well as automate toilets to achieve positive health outcomes and environmental sustainability. He emphasized on the need to run accelerator programmes that will demonstrate innovative sanitation solutions that can be run at scale and be aligned with the Mission.

Mr. Abhishek Nath presented the ‘Loo Café’ model, a sustainable public-private-partnership based model that charges a user fee for upkeep and maintenance of public toilets. Ms. Srija Santosh from Eram Scientific, Kerala presented a case study for IoT based E-Toilets business model for public toilets. Finally, Mr. Ashutosh Giri from Fresh Rooms Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. presented a cloud-based E-toilet business model for public toilets.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, launched by the Prime Minister on 1st October 2022 with the overall vision of creating ‘Garbage Free Cities’, has introduced Used Water Management as a newly funded component for towns with less than 1 lakh population. This showcases the Mission’s commitments to improving the overall Used Water Management ecosystem in Urban India by ensuring that no un-treated used water is discharged into water bodies (as per the Water+ Protocol). Under the Mission, maximum reuse of treated used water is a key area focus along with eradication of hazardous entry into sewers and septic tanks through mechanization of their cleaning operations.

29-Apr-2022: Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 launches National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has launched the ‘National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities’ to strengthen the ongoing Jan Andolan for ‘Garbage Free Cities’.

Urban India has seen a social revolution in the field of sanitation, with one hundred and thirty crore citizens rallying behind the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call for ‘Clean India’ to become a developmental priority during his Independence Day Speech on 15th August 2014. Over the last seven years, this Government policy for cleanliness has metamorphosed to become the world’s largest behaviour change programme that champions the principles of sustainable urbanization, circular economy, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

As a consequence of SBM-U, the idea of Swachhata is now ingrained in the minds of citizens with diverse citizen groups coming together to take ownership of their city’s cleanliness status and visibly improve it. At the core of the Mission lies the central belief that ‘swachhata is everyone’s business’ and clear, consistent, and repetitive messaging around this core message has been done tirelessly over the years, through the use of traditional, digital, social media campaigns and large-scale interpersonal communication to ingrain this belief in the minds of all citizens.

Now, under SBM-U 2.0, the newly launched ‘National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities’ shall serve as a guiding document and blueprint for States and Cities to undertake large scale multimedia campaigns along with intensive and focused inter-personal communication campaigns. Launched by Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, the framework focuses on intensifying messaging around the key focus areas of source segregation, collection, transportation, and processing of waste, plastic waste management, and remediation of legacy dumpsites to truly transform the urban landscape of India.

Speaking at the launch event, Shri Manoj Joshi said, “We have seen unprecedented levels of behaviour change being achieved under the Mission. Over the years, our realization is that IEC Campaigns are most successful where local bodies have done adequate work alongside IEC activities. Campaigning and on-ground mobilization must go hand-in-hand for tangible impact to be felt on ground and across society. We must all also resolve to maintain the achievements earned during the last seven years of SBM while forging ahead towards achieving SBM-U 2.0’s vision of ‘Garbage Free Cities’ through strategic partnerships and interventions.”

While presenting the core tenets and principles of the Framework, Ms. Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs emphasized on the need to build strategic partnerships with a diverse set of stakeholders to drive behaviour change. She said, “Over the course of the Mission, Cities have proved their creativity and have conceptualized different kinds of interventions for citizens to be part of the Jan Andolan for swachhata. After seven years, the learnings are clear: any city that has engaged with its citizens directly and extensively has been successful in achieving its Swachhata objectives, in terms of better outputs and outcomes in the sanitation space. The focus of SBM-U 2.0 is to scale up inter-personal communication, mid-media activities, as well as strategic partnerships across all sectors to improve overall sanitation outcomes and drive last mile change.”

Following the national launch of the BCC Framework for Garbage Free Cities was second edition of SwachhTalks, the peer-learning webinar series for States/Union Territories and Urban Local Bodies titled ‘Swachhata Ki Jyot’ that aimed to share field experiences and best communications’ practices of sector partners, cities, and States in making an impact in the field of Swachhata.

Sharing the on-ground experiences of mobilizing women for across Chhattisgarh, India’s Cleanest State in Swachh Survekshan 2021, Shri Saumil Ranjan Chaubey, Mission Director, SUDA, Chhattisgarh said, “Swachhata Didis are the pillars of the Swachh Bharat Mission in Chhattisgarh. They ensure that every neighbourhood is clean every day. Their efforts have resulted in the State winning the Swachhata Ka Taaj as Cleanest State, three years in a row. Our communications strategy was targeted towards the household. We used digital communication tools such as WhatsApp and created 3,500+ groups to spread critical public information relating to home composting, segregation, and others directly to the citizens. That is how a difference came to be made over time.”

Perspectives from Odisha was shared by Shri Sangramjit Nayak, Mission Director, Odisha who said, “Community participation is key to achieving desired sanitation outcomes. Odisha has always emphasized on the value and role of community-level institutions such as Mission Shakti Women Self Help Groups, Swachh Sathis, Swachh Supervisors, Swachh Karnis, Transgender and Waste Picker in Sanitation and Waste Management. The State has been successful in harnessing the efforts of these groups towards improving swachhata outcomes in the State.”

Sector partners and specialists in the field of behaviour change communication added nuanced perspectives to the discussion. Ms. Radharani Mitra, Global Creative Advisor from BBC Media said, “A 360-degree approach to communication ensures more exposure to the content, with the same idea implemented across different touchpoints, thus helping to raise awareness, changes attitudes, generate conversations and increases intent to act.”

Shri. Pandit Patil, Chief Office, Lonavala also highlighted the resolve of citizens, especially young students, in the hill station of Lonavala towards making the plush green hills around them garbage free. He spoke about the ‘Dry Waste Passbook Scheme’ by the Lonavala Municipal Corporation that has been well received by young students since 2015. Every year, this initiative alone attracts 9,000+ students from 23 schools to come forward and drive behavioural change by nudging neighbourhoods in Lonavala to segregate waste at the household level.

Sharing perspectives from Vijayawada, Shri Swapnil Dinkar, Commissioner, highlighted the resolve with which citizens in his city transformed their urban landscape. He said, “There are 3,700+ SafaiMitras across the city who work tirelessly to change the urban landscape of the city. Key interventions from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation are nudging citizens to become actively involved in increasing the number of green communities in the city.”

Further enriching the discussion were perspectives from Dr. Barsha Poricha, Head of Technical Cell at CURE, who said, “BCC is key to the success of SBM U 2.0. It requires localization, community engagement, citizen participation and collaborative partnerships to bring about desired outcomes. It is also critical to bring all the stakeholders on board from the start of the BCC design process. This will enable co-creation and co-ownership of the approach and ensure sustainability of the behaviour change.”

The second episode of SwachhTalks was successful in conveying how behaviour change can put India on the path of sustainable urbanization, with active involvement from all citizens, implementers, and state officials. The virtual event was attended by Mission Directors from States and Union Territories, Senior officials as well as sector partners.

7-Apr-2022: SBM-U was launched with primary objectives of achieving 100% Open Defecation Free status by constructing Individual Household Latrines and Community/Public Toilets

The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) was launched on 2nd October, 2014 for a period up to 30.9.2021 in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of the country, with the primary objectives of achieving 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF) status through construction of Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) and Community/ Public Toilets (CT/PTs). These facilities are also extended under the SBM-U 2.0, which is the successor mission of SBM-U launched on 1st October, 2021.

Number of toilets constructed till date under SBM-U is as under:

Construction of Toilets

Funds are released to the States/Union Territories (UTs) on receipt of complete and correct proposals confirming to guidelines of SBM-U and duly approved by the State High Powered Committee (SHPC). State/UT-wise details of funds allocated and released for construction of toilets (IHHL, CT/PTs, Aspirational Toilets and urinals) under SBM-U is at Annex.

SBM-U 2.0 was launched on October 1, 2021 to achieve “Garbage Free” status for all cities through 100 per cent source segregation, door-to-door collection of segregated waste and scientific processing and management of all fractions of waste, including its safe disposal in scientific landfills. The scheme envisages remediation of all legacy dumpsites by converting them into green zones.

Infrastructure has been developed for scientific treatment and management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), which includes, Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Waste-to-Compost (WtC) Plants, Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste processing plants, Bio-Mechanisation, Waste-to-Electricity (WtE) plants, etc.

Other steps taken by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for Solid Waste Management (SWM) includes financial assistance to States/UTs, technical protocols and standards, capacity building of ULBs, conducting Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns for behaviour change, annual sanitation survey of cities (Swachh Survekshan), Information Technology (IT) platforms like Swachhatam portal and Swachhata App, protocols like Star Rating protocol of Garbage Free Cities (GFC), protocols for ODF+ and ODF++ and Water+ protocol, etc.

As a result of all this, since inception of the SBM-U in October, 2014, the processing of MSW has improved from 18% in 2014 to more than 72% at present. Other waste management activities have also improved substantially.

13-Dec-2021: Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 to make the cities garbage free and water secure during the mission period of five years (2021-2026).

The major focus of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 [SBM (U) 2.0] and AMRUT 2.0 launched on 1st October, 2021 is to make the cities garbage free and water secure during the mission period of five years (2021-2026).

The highlights of SBM (U) 2.0 are as under:

1. all households and premises segregate their waste into “wet waste” (from kitchen and gardens) and “dry waste” (including paper, glass, plastic, and domestic hazardous waste and sanitary waste wrapped separately);
2. 100% door to door collection of segregated waste from each household/ premise;
3. 100% scientific management of all fractions of waste, including safe disposal in scientific landfills;
4. all legacy dumpsites remediated;
5. all used water including faecal sludge, is safely contained, transported, processed and disposed so that no untreated faecal sludge and used water pollutes the ground or water bodies, in cities with less than one lakh population;
6. phased reduction in use of single use plastic.

The highlights of AMRUT 2.0 are as under:

1. Universal coverage of water supply from 500 cities to about 4,800 statutory towns.
2. Focus on making the cities ‘self-reliant’ and ‘water secure’.
3. Universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities.\
4. Target to provide 2.68 crore drinking water tap connections and 2.64 crore sewer connections.
5. Focus on financial sustainability of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) through enhanced credit worthiness and market borrowing.
6. ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’ will be undertaken in cities to promote healthy competition among them and function as monitoring tool and Mission accelerator.
7. Technology sub-Mission under AMRUT 2.0 will help in identifying proven and potential global technologies in water sector.
8. Entrepreneurship/ start-ups involved in low-cost indigenous equipments and processes will be encouraged.

All the cities of Uttar Pradesh including Firozabad are covered under SBM (U) 2.0 and are eligible to avail all components as per operational guidelines.

Out of 4,372 ULBs, 4,371 ULBs including Firozabad of the country except one in West Bengal (city of Purulia) have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) under SBM (U). SBM (U) 2.0 & AMRUT 2.0 cover all the cities in the country and their aim is to make them garbage free and water secure during the Mission Period 2021-2026.

6-Dec-2021: MoHUA and UNDP sign MoU for Strengthening Waste Management Sector in India under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India to strengthen the waste management sector in India under the overall ambit of Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban 2.0. The MoU, operational for a period of five years (2021-26) was signed by Ms. Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) representing MoHUA, and Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, representing UNDP India, in the presence of Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA.

Solid waste management has been a key focus of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban since its launch in 2014. With concerted focus on source segregation and scientific processing of municipal solid waste, the waste processing capacity in India has gone up by nearly 4 times, from 18% in 2014, to 70% on date. The thrust on sustainable solid waste management with particular focus on plastic waste has been further strengthened with the launch of SBM-U 2.0 on 1st October by Hon’ble Prime Minister, with overall vision of creating “Garbage Free Cities”. The MoU signed between MoHUA and UNDP India marks the beginning of a collaborative journey to strengthen collection, segregation, recovery and recycling of all kinds of non-biodegradable waste, and integrated plastic waste management under SBM-U 2.0.

The multi-stakeholder approach followed by SBM-U in the last seven years has played a significant role in the success of the Mission in the last seven years with several sector partners coming together to achieve the collective goal of ‘Swachhata’ in urban India. The philosophy of collaboration and partnerships is a key tenet in the Operational Guidelines of SBM-U 2.0. In keeping with this spirit, the MoU which comes into effect from today, will cover interventions in the areas of capacity building, digital interventions, research and development, monitoring and evaluation, and social and behavior change communication. Through this MoU, UNDP India will also be facilitating setting up of 75 Smart Swachhata Kendras across the country, working with local partners and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Moreover, in line with SBM-U 2.0’s core objective of sanitation and waste workers’ welfare, the model will also focus on integrating informal waste pickers – Safai  Saathis - and linking them to various government welfare schemes. With digital technologies playing a critical role in driving Mission outcomes of SBM-U 2.0, the MoHUA- UNDP model will also make use of digital enablers such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to digitize the waste flow and streamline activities in the Swachhata Kendras.

Speaking at the event, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary MoHUA said, “Today’s collaboration comes in the backdrop of the 75th year of India’s independence, the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, with UNDP supporting us with the set up and operationalization of 75 Swachhata Kendras across the country. I take this opportunity to thank UNDP for its long-standing association with MoHUA and invite other technical and knowledge partners at the national, state and city levels to bring in their expertise to aid and assist SBM-U 2.0’s outcomes in solid waste and used water management.”

Elaborating on UNDP’s association with SBM-U 2.0, Ms. Noda said, “UNDP India is proud of its association with SBM-U and has facilitated the processing 82,000 MT of plastic waste since 2018 through its 20+ Swachhata Kendras or Material Recovery Facilities. With today’s MoU, we are committed to working collaboratively with MoHUA to promote, scale-up, and replicate a sustainable model for waste management across cities in line with SBM-U 2.0’s objective of zero waste while also bringing about a marked improvement in the lives of informal waste pickers.”

With the vision of making cities ‘Garbage Free’, SBM-U 2.0 is focused on achieving 100% waste processing along with bio-remediation of legacy dumpsites, construction and demolition waste and plastic waste management. The collaboration between MoHUA and UNDP India is another step towards realizing the vision of ‘Clean Air, Clean Water, Clean Land’ in urban India through a circular economy approach based on the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) principle.

6-Dec-2021: Scientific processing of Municipal Solid Waste has increased from 18% in 2014 to 70% with Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban

With efforts of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), all cities have started practicing scientific disposal of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). As a result, till date scientific processing of MSW has increased from 18% in 2014 to 70% at present. Details of quantity of treated and untreated waste in urban areas of the country is at Annexure. Under SBM-U, Govt. of India provides Additional Central Assistance (ACA) for creating infrastructure for management of solid waste addressing inter-alia, processing of municipal solid waste, management of construction & demolition waste and bio-remediation of all legacy dumpsites.

Till date, ₹ 6,375.17 crores has been disbursed to States/UTs under Solid Waste Management (SWM) component of SBM-U for creation of infrastructure like Waste to Compost (WtC) plants, Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Waste to Energy (WtE) plants, Sanitary Landfills etc. Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 launched recently on 1st October, 2021 has major focus on making the city's garbage free during the mission period.

20-Nov-2021: Cleanest Cities of India Honoured by President at Swachh Amrit Mahotsav

The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind today felicitated the awardees of the cleanest cities of India at the ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ hosted as part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The award ceremony, organized to recognize the good work done for Swachhata by towns/ cities, States and Union Territories under various initiatives of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), viz. Swachh Survekshan 2021, Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, and certifications for Garbage Free Star rating for cities – saw more than 300 awards under various categories being given away through the day.

For the fifth consecutive year, Indore was awarded the title of India’s Cleanest City under Swachh Survekshan, while Surat and Vijayawada bagged the second and third spots respectively in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category. In the population category of ‘less than 1 lakh’, Vita, Lonavala and Sasvad, all from Maharashtra, bagged the first, second and third positions respectively. Varanasi emerged as the ‘Best Ganga Town’ while Ahmedabad Cantonment won the title of ‘India’s Cleanest Cantonment’, followed by Meerut Cantonment and Delhi Cantonment. In the category of ‘Fastest Mover’, Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh) emerged as the ‘Fastest Mover City’ (in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category) with a jump of 274 ranks from 361st position in the 2020 rankings to the 87th position this year, thus securing a place among the top 100 cities.

In the State awards, Chhattisgarh, for the third consecutive year emerged as the ‘Cleanest State’ in the category of “more than 100 Urban Local Bodies” while Jharkhand, for the second time, won the Cleanest State award in the “less than 100 ULBs category”. Karnataka and Mizoram became the ‘Fastest Mover States’ in the big (more than 100 ULBs) and small (less than 100 ULBs) state category respectively.

Speaking at the event, the President said that this year's Swachh Survekshan Awards have special significance because we are celebrating 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. He noted that Safai Mitras and sanitation workers have continuously rendered their services even during the COVID pandemic. He said that the government is committed to ensure that life of no sanitation worker is put at risk due to unsafe cleaning practices. The President said that effective management of solid waste is essential to keep the cities clean. He stressed that environment conservation has been an integral part of the traditional lifestyle of India. Today whole world is emphasising on environment protection in which focus is on to reduce, reuse and recycle the resources. He noted that good examples are coming out of the idea of ​​'Waste to Wealth' and many start-ups are active in these areas. He said that appropriate schemes could be developed to encourage entrepreneurship and investment in these areas.

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs, speaking on the occasion, said that the achievements under SBM-U have been the result of unprecedented collective efforts. He said that today, the Mission has taken the shape of a people’s movement – a true ‘Jan Andolan’. This is also reflected in the massive growth of the Swachh Survekshan which began as a pilot in 2016 among 73 cities, and is the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey today. He said that the next few years will be dedicated to focusing on holistic cleanliness, i.e. Clean Air, Clean Land, and Clean Water. The Minister said that we owe it to our future generations to create greener and inclusive cities. He congratulated the Swachhata Champions of urban India through this celebration, which is appropriately titled Swachh Amrit Mahotsav.

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and Shri Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs also felicitated the awardee cities and States, in the presence of dignitaries including the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh and Sikkim, and Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Over the years, Swachh Survekshan (SS) has emerged as an effective tool for transforming the urban landscape. Despite the on-ground challenges posed by COVID-19, a team of over 2,000 assessors visited over 65,000 wards in a record time of 28 days. Maharashtra has successfully bagged a total of 92 awards, the highest by any State in this year’s Survekshan, followed by Chhattisgarh with 67 awards. Additionally, under the Prerak Daaur Samman, a new performance category introduced under Swachh Survekshan 2021, five cities – Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi Municipal Council and Tirupati were categorized as ‘Divya’ (Platinum).  This year’s Survekshan, participated by 4,320 cities, also saw an unprecedented number of citizens’ feedback – over 5 crores, compared to 1.87 cores last year. SS 2021 has also helped identify over 6,000 innovations and best practices in sanitation and waste management from across the urban India.

The second session of today’s event was dedicated to Safai Mitras, the frontline soldiers of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban.  Commemorating World Toilet Day (19 November), this session saw the top performers under the first ever Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge being recognized. Indore, Navi Mumbai, Nellore and Dewas emerged as the top performers, across different population categories among 246 participating cities in the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, launched last year by MoHUA to eradicate human fatalities from hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. Among the States, Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh bagged the award for best performing State and Union Territory under the Challenge. In the last one year, the Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge has been able to propel the ‘manhole to machine hole’ revolution in urban India through initiatives such as credit linkages of SafaiMitras with banks through the National Safai Karamcharis Financial Development Corporation (NSKFDC), on-the-job trainings through the Sector Skill Council for Green Jobs and setting up of helpline number 14420 in over 190 cities – a citizens’ grievance platform.

The vision of a Garbage Free India under SBM-U 2.0 was given further impetus by announcing the results of 3-star and 5-star rated cities under the Star Rating Protocol of Garbage Free Cities. A total of 9 cities – Indore, Surat, New Delhi Municipal Council, Navi Mumbai, Ambikapur, Mysuru, Noida, Vijayawada and Patan- have been certified as 5 star cities while 143 cities have been certified as 3 star. The Star Rating Protocol of Garbage Free Cities was introduced as a SMART framework by MoHUA in 2018, to holistically evaluate cities across solid waste management parameters. In 2018, only 56 cities were awarded certification on some star rating. This year, the number has gone up manifold with 2,238 cities applying for the assessment. The mammoth exercise was completed successfully despite the COVID-19 restrictions as is evidenced in the numbers - 1.4 crore photographic evidence collected across 3.5 crore data points, along with 14.19 lakh citizen validation and 1 lakh locations covered during the assessment period.

The spirit of celebration was further enhanced through the release of a song titled ‘Har Dhadkan Swachh Bharat Ki – Reaffirming a Nation’s Commitment to Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0’ by President of India. The song encapsulates the spirit of the Swachhata movement and is a salute to the commitment of all citizens, especially the children, youth and senior citizens, in the Swachhata journey.  The video, which depicts a clean, green and modern urban India, is an effort to reinvigorate people to carry forward the SBM-U 2.0 journey in the days ahead. The link of the song is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY_ejy6ifwE.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, launched on 1st October, 2021, will focus on ensuring complete access to sanitation facilities for all. Technology has played a critical role in achieving the outcomes under SBM-U’s journey in the last seven years. Taking a giant leap forward in this digital journey, the Ministry launched the revamped Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 website and the integrated MIS portal ‘Swachhatam’.

Additionally, a futuristic and state-of-the-art spatial GIS platform was launched that will further propel the Mission towards smart, data driven decision making. These new digital enablements will further enable the Mission to become paperless, robust and transparent, along with round-the-clock connectivity with States, Cities and stakeholders across the Swachhata spectrum.

Swachh Amrit Mahotsav was thus a celebration of the achievements of cities in the past seven years of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and a commitment from cities and citizens to move forward with renewed vigour in the next phase of Swachhata through Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0.

27-Oct-2021: Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launches the Operational Guidelines for Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0, and AMRUT 2.0

Union Minister for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launched the operational guidelines of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0, here today. This follows the ceremonial launch of SBM-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 1st October 2021, stakeholder consultations on 5th October 2021 at Lucknow (during the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations of MoHUA), and Cabinet approval of the Mission on 12th October 2021.

The SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 guidelines have been designed after multiple rounds of stakeholder consultations and feedback from them. The guidelines have been designed under the overarching guiding principles that include equity and inclusiveness to ensure that Mission benefits reach all sections of society, focus on capacity building, extensive digital enablements for implementing every component of the Mission.

Speaking at the occasion, the Minister said the second phases of both the missions are set to transform the country into a really Swachch country. The country had become ODF in 2019, on the basis of third party verification, and it will now move to ODF+ and ODF++. Shri Puri said that movement from ODF to Garbage-free will bring about major changes in the ecosystem. He said that AMRUT Mission was earlier covering only 500 cities, and the same will now expand to all the cities. He said that the scheme will not only provide water tap connections, it will also help in realization of the real value of water. Describing the launch of guidelines as the Diwali gift to the citizens of the country for a clean environment, he said that these are being issued within four weeks of the launch of the mission. The Minister lauded the State Governments and ULBs for participating in both the missions whole-heartedly, and also signing the tripartite MoU in such a short time.

Minister of State for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Kaushal Kishore, joining the event through virtual mode said that SBM became a people’s movement and ushered a change in their habits and attitudes. He said that the Prime Minister himself led from the front, and this helped in the large-scale mobilization and involvement of people. He said that provisioning of the 24X7 water supply in cities by AMRUT will provide big relief to Urban dwellers.

SBM-U 2.0

Budget outlay of SBM-U 2.0is ₹1,41,600 crore. The launch ceremony witnessed the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of States/ UTs and nearly 4,800 ULBs with MoHUA, within a 24-hour timeline. As per the MoU, the Government of India, in partnership with States/UTs and ULBs, is committed to make all cities ‘Garbage Free’ and ‘Water Secure’, in order to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, which will ultimately improve the quality of life and ease of living of urban populations, thus leading to urban transformation.

In line with the vision of the Prime Minister, SBM-U 2.0 has been designed to realize the aspiration of making all our cities ‘Garbage Free’. This will signify a step forward in the march towards effectively addressing the challenges of rapidly urbanizing India, while contributing towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

SBM-U 2.0 envisions to make all cities ‘Garbage Free’ and ensure grey and black water (used water) management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT, making all urban local bodies ODF+ and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++, and Water+, thereby ensuring that no untreated used water is discharged in open to pollute water bodies, thus achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas. The Mission will also focus on source segregation of solid waste, utilizing the principles of 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management.

Over the last seven years, the Mission has reached all corners of the country and has changed the lives of countless citizens with its ‘people first’ focus. The Mission has revolutionized the sanitation space in urban India by building over 70 lakh household, community and public toilets, thus providing safe and dignified sanitation solutions for all. The Mission has prioritized the needs of women, transgender communities, and persons with disabilities (Divyangs).

Taking the journey forward, the Mission is moving on the path of sustainable sanitation with over 3,300 cities and over 950 cities being certified ODF+ and ODF++ respectively, and 9 cities certified Water+, which entails treatment of wastewater and its optimum reuse. The thrust on scientific waste management is evident with waste processing in India going up by over four times from 18% in 2014 to 70% today. This has been aided through 100% door-to-door waste collection in 97% wards and source segregation of waste being practiced by citizens in letter and spirit across 85% wards. More importantly, the Mission has been able to bring about a marked difference in the lives of sanitation workers and informal waste workers. The active participation of 20 crore citizens (comprising over 50% of India’s urban population) in the program has successfully transformed the Mission into a people’s movement, a true Jan Andolan. The launch of operational guidelines of SBM-Urban 2.0 has set the stage for States/ UTs and ULBs to begin the next phase of their journey towards transforming Urban India.

AMRUT 2.0

ATAL MISSION FOR REJUVENATION AND URBAN TRANSFORMATION (AMRUT) 2.0 targets providing household water tap connections in 4,700 statutory towns and household coverage of sewerage/ septage services in 500 AMRUT cities.  Total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is ₹ 2,99,000 crore which includes allocation for projects of ongoing AMRUT Mission to the tune of ₹ 22,000 crore for five years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26. Total central share is ₹86,760 crore including ₹10,000 crore for AMRUT projects.

AMRUT, first focused water Mission was launched in June 2015 in 500 cities. In the spirit of “Transformation to Saturation”, Prime Minister launched AMRUT 2.0 on 1 October, 2021.AMRUT 2.0 is a step towards achieving water secure cities to support the spirit of AatmaNirbhar Bharat. 2.68 crore new household tap connections and 2.64 crore sewer connections/ coverage with septage management are proposed under AMRUT 2.0.

Under AMRUT 2.0, cities will submit City Water Balance Plans (CWBPs) online on a robust Mission portal of MoHUA. CWBPs will give the status of water availability, water demand and supply in the city culminating in gaps in services. With target of filling theses gaps projects will be formulated in from of City Water Action Plan. These plans will be aggregated at State level in form of State Water Action Plan (SWAP).  Mission mandates implementation of 10% worth of funds allocated to million plus cities in PPP mode. Taking up projects on 24x7 water supply in 500 AMRUT cities which have population above one lakh is encouraged.

Pey Jal Survekshan, Information, Education & Communication (IEC), Technology sub-Mission and Capacity Building are also key components of Mission. Pey Jal Survekshan will assess quality and quantity of water supplied to the citizens and will instill healthy competition among cities to provide better water related services to the citizens. IEC campaign targets to convert water conservation into a Jan Andolan. Start-ups in water sector will also be encouraged through Technology sub-Mission. Capacity building program shall impart training to elected representatives, Municipal functionaries and larger audience comprising contractors, managers, plumbers, plant operators, workmen, consultants, students, women, and citizens.

Funding will be done to the States and Union Territories for project implementation, Administrative & Other Expenses. Project funds will be released in three instalments of 20:40:40. Implementation of reforms on Property Tax and user charges is mandatory to get uninterrupted funding from third year onwards. Cities will also submit City Aquifer Management Plans with focus on maintaining positive ground water balance in aquifers. Mission will also fund the outcomes achieved through sources other than AMRUT. Mission management will be paperless and on a complete online platform. Under the gig economy model Mission will co-opt women and youth for concurrent feedbacks about its progress. Mission also has a reform Agenda targeted towards strengthening municipal governance and water security of cities. Major reforms are reducing non-revenue water to below 20%; recycle of treated used water to meet at least 20% of total city water demand and 40% for industrial water demand at State level; 24x7 water supply with ‘Drink from tap’ facility; rejuvenation of water bodies; GIS based master plans of the cities & efficient town planning; credit rating of cities and raising funds through issuance of municipal bonds. Successful implementation of reforms will be incentivized.

12-Oct-2021: Cabinet approves the continuation of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) (SBM U) till 2025-26 for sustainable outcomes

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the continuation of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) till 2025-26, with focus on sustainability of Open Defecation Free (ODF) outcomes, achieving scientific processing of Solid Waste in all cities, and managing Wastewater in cities with less than 1 lakh population in Census 2011 [cities not covered under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)].

Financial Outlay under SBM-Urban 2.0: A financial outlay of ₹1,41,600 crores has been finalized for SBM-U 2.0, including central share of ₹36,465 for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 which is over 2.5 times the financial outlay of ₹62,009 crores in the last phase of the Mission.

• Fund sharing pattern between Centre and States is as follows:
• Cities with million plus population: 25:75
• Cities with population between 1-10 lakhs: 33:67
• Cities with less than one lakh population: 50:50
• Union territories without legislature: 100:0
• Union territories with legislature: 80:20

Expected Outcomes under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0

Sanitation:

1. All statutory towns to become at least ODF+
2. All cities with <1 lakh population to be made ODF++
3. Putting in place systems and processes so that all wastewater is safely treated and optimally reused and no untreated wastewater pollutes water bodies

Solid Waste Management:

• All cities to achieve at least 3-star Garbage Free certification

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0: Key Features

Over the next 5 years, the focus of SBM-U 2.0, launched on 1st October 2021 by Hon’ble Prime Minister, will be on sustaining the sanitation and solid waste management outcomes achieved and accelerating the momentum generated, thus achieving the Mission’s vision of a “Garbage Free” Urban India.

The implementation of the Mission components will be done in a structured and time-bound manner, with thorough gap analysis of required infrastructure, detailed 5-year action plans, and annual action plans with timelines. The Mission will be completely paperless, digital, leveraging digital technology for complete transparency and accountability through GIS-mapped waste management infrastructure, robust user interface, online grievance redressal system, end-to-end online monitoring of projects starting from project creation to fund release, and project progress monitoring on integrated GIS-based platform.

Enablers such as outcome-based fund release, greater funding support for smaller ULBs and convergence with 15th FC grants for added funding support, structured implementation plan for each component, robust capacity building, communication and advocacy for sustainable behavior change, intensified thrust on private sector participation, and extensive industry collaboration will help in achieving the Mission’s objectives within the scheduled timelines.

Key Components under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0

The following will be the key components for implementation under SBM-U 2.0:

Sustainable Sanitation:

1. The Mission will focus on ensuring complete access to sanitation facilities to serve additional population migrating from rural to urban areas in search of employment and better opportunities over the next 5 years. This will be done through the construction of over 3.5 lakhs individual, community and public toilets.
2. Complete liquid waste management in cities in less than 1 lakh population – a new component introduced under SBM-Urban 2.0 will ensure that systems and processes are set up in every city so that all wastewater is safely contained, collected, transported and treated and no wastewater pollutes our water bodies.

Sustainable Solid Waste Management:

1. 100 percent source segregation of waste along with functional Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in every city,  with a focus on phasing out single use plastic
2. Setting up of construction & demolition (C&D) waste processing facilities and deployment of mechanical sweepers in National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) cities and in cities with more than 5 lakh population
3. Remediation of all legacy dumpsites, so that 14,000 acres of locked up land lying under 15 crore tonnes of legacy waste are freed up.

The above will be achieved through robust capacity building of ULBs and all relevant stakeholders, and intensified focus on citizen engagement through communication and advocacy, for further scaling up the Jan Andolan.

There will be special focus on well-being on sanitation and informal waste workers through provision of personal protective equipment and safety kits, linkages with government welfare schemes along with their capacity building.

Objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban

In 2014, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, India adopted a holistic vision for urban planning and embarked on a journey of transformation in the water and sanitation sector. The announcement for the launch of SBM was made by  Prime Minister on 15th August 2014 with the Mission being formally launched on 2nd October 2014 with the following objectives:

• Eradication of open defecation in all statutory towns
• 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in all statutory towns
• Effecting behaviour change through Jan Andolan

Achievements of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban

Over the last seven years, the Mission has reached all corners of the country and has changed the lives of countless citizens with its ‘people first’ focus. The following are the key milestones, achievements and impact under SBM-Urban:

• The Mission has revolutionized the sanitation space in urban India by providing 100% access to sanitation facilities in urban India. Under SBM-Urban, over 70 lakh household, community and public toilets have been built thus providing safe and dignified sanitation solutions for all. The Mission has prioritized the needs of women, transgender communities, and persons with disabilities (Divyaangs).
• Access to sanitation facilities has been improved further through digital innovation such as SBM Toilets on Google Maps where over 65,000 public toilets across 3,300+ cities have been made live.
• Urban India was declared open defecation free in 2019 following which the Mission has propelled urban India on the path of sustainable sanitation with over 3,300 cities and over 960 cities being certified ODF[1]+ and ODF++[2] respectively.
• Cities are progressing towards Water+ certification under the Water+ Protocol[3] which focuses on treatment of wastewater and its optimum reuse.
• In the area of scientific waste management, waste processing in India has gone up over four times from 18% in 2014 to 70% today.
• This has been aided through 100% door-to-door waste collection in 97% wards and source segregation of waste being practiced by citizens in letter and spirit across 85% wards.
• The Mission has been able to bring about a marked difference in the lives of sanitation workers and informal waste workers with over 5.5 lakh sanitation workers linked to social welfare schemes. The uninterrupted services by frontline sanitation workers played a key role in ensuring the safety of urban India during Covid-19 pandemic.
• The active participation of 20 crore citizens (comprising over 50% of India’s urban population) in the program has successfully transformed the Mission into a people’s movement, a true Jan Andolan through massive IEC and behaviour change campaigns.
• Digital enablements such as Swachhata App, the digital grievance redressal platform introduced by MoHUA in 2016, has reinvented the way in which citizen grievance redressal is managed. The App has resolved over 2 crore citizen complaints till date with active engagement from citizens. MoHUA has recently launched the revamped version of Swachhata App 2.0
• Swachh Survekshan, the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey covering over 4,000 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) was initiated under SBM-Urban in 2016. The Survekshan framework has evolved with the years and has today become a unique management tool that accelerates ground level implementation to achieve sanitation outcomes. Swachh Survekshan 2021 was conducted in record time despite the on-ground challenges posed by the pandemic. Over the years, the survey has received over 7 crore citizen feedback cumulatively.
• Continuous capacity building of state and city level officials with over 10 lakh municipal officials and staff trained on various Mission components.

1-Oct-2021: PM launches Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0, here today. Union Ministers Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Shri Kaushal Kishore,  Shri  Bishweswar Tudu, Ministers from states, Mayors and Chairpersons of Urban Local Bodies and Municipal Commissioners were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said In 2014, the countrymen took a pledge to make India open defecation free - ODF and they fulfilled this pledge with the construction of more than 10 crore toilets. Now the goal of 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0' is to make the cities Garbage-Free, completely free of garbage, he said. The Prime Minister underlined the scope of the country's target in the next phase of Mission AMRUT as  'Improving sewage and septic management, making our cities water safe cities and ensuring that no sewage drains anywhere in our rivers’.

The Prime Minister dedicated the successes of transformation in the urban regeneration and cleanliness to Mahatma Gandhi. He said these missions are the result of inspiration by Mahatma Gandhi and is being realized through his ideals only. He also highlighted the ease for mothers and daughters due to the construction of toilets.

Saluting the spirit of the nation, the Prime Minister remarked that the journey of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and AMRUT Mission so far makes every countryman proud. He encapsulated the feeling when he said “In this, there is a mission, there is respect, there is dignity, there is also the ambition of a country and there is also unmatched love for the motherland”.

Noting that today's event was taking place in the Ambedkar International Centre, the Prime Minister remarked that Babasaheb believed in urban development as a great means of removing inequality. Many people from villages come to cities with an aspiration for a better life. He said, they get employment but their standard of living remains in a difficult situation even compared to their lives in the villages. This is like double jeopardy of staying away from home, and after that to stay in such a difficult situation. He said Babasaheb's emphasis was on changing this situation by removing this inequality. The next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission and Mission Amrit is an important step towards fulfilling the dreams of Babasaheb, said the Prime Minister.

He said, along with, Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas is critical for the campaign of cleanliness. Further, commenting on the level of public participation with regard to cleanliness, the Prime Minister expressed happiness that the present generation has taken the initiative to strengthen the cleanliness campaign. Toffee wrappers are no longer thrown on the ground but kept in pocket by children. Small children now ask the elders to avoid mess. “We have to remember that cleanliness is not a task just for a day, a fortnight, a year or for just a few people. Cleanliness is a great campaign for everyone, every day, every fortnight, every year, generation after generation. Cleanliness is a lifestyle, cleanliness is a life mantra, '' said the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister recalled his efforts as Chief Minister of Gujarat for enhancing the tourist potential of Gujarat where he turned the quest for cleanliness into Jan Andolan by Nirmal Gujarat Programme.

Enumerating the steps taken to take the campaign of cleanliness to the next level, the Prime Minister noted, today, India is processing about one lakh tonnes of waste every day. He remarked, ‘when the country started the campaign in 2014, less than 20 per cent of the waste generated every day in the country was processed. Today we are processing about 70 per cent of daily waste. Now we have to take it to 100%’. The Prime Minister also talked about enhanced allocations for the Urban Development Ministry. He said in the preceding 7 years before 2014, the Ministry was given about 1.25 lakh crore rupees while in 7 years from 2014 almost 4 lakh crore rupees were allocated for the Ministry.

The use of modern technology is also continuously increasing for the development of cities in the country. The Prime Minister, mentioned recently launched the National Automobile Scrappage Policy, and pointed out that this new scrapping policy strengthens the campaign of Waste to Wealth and a circular economy.

The Prime Minister referred to street vendors and hawkers as  one of the most important partners of any city in the program related to urban development. The Prime Minister reiterated that PM SVANidhi Yojana has come as a new ray of hope for these people. More than 46 street vendors have availed benefits under SVANidhi scheme and 25 lakh people have received 2.5 thousand crore rupees. The Prime Minister said that these vendors are promoting digital transactions and maintaining a very good record of paying back their loans. He expressed happiness that big states  like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have taken the lead in implementing the scheme.

3-Aug-2021: Technology and Equipment for Sanitation

Though much progress has been made in improving the sanitation facilities under the Swachh Bharat Mission, more investments are required to be made for inducting better technologies and equipment for making hazardous cleaning operations safer.

Although this is a State Government subject, under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments by providing Central Assistance (CA) covering the scientific management of solid wastes, decentralised composting by Bulk Waste Generators in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), setting-up of centralised composting plants, scientific land filling and land remediation, management of plastic waste and the Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste in an integrated manner.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (M/o HUA) had launched a ‘Technology Challenge for identifying and promoting solutions for cleaning and maintenance of sewerage systems and septic tanks to eliminate need for human entry’.

Under the Swacchata Udyami Yojana (SUY), this Ministry assists the sanitation workers to own mechanical cleaning equipment.

Under Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), the manual scavengers, sanitation workers and their dependents are provided capital subsidy upto Rs. 5.00 lakh for procurement of instruments/vehicles for mechanized cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

M/o HUA have also launched Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge across 246 cities (Municipal Corporation, State Capitals and Smart Cities) to motivate ULBs for prevention of ‘hazardous cleaning’ of sewer and septic tanks and promote mechanized cleaning.

8-Sep-2020: All urban local bodies (ULBS) in Haryana certified open defecation free (ODF), 21 ULBS ODF+ and 13 ODF++

Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has stated that all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Haryana have been certified Open Defecation Free (ODF), 21 ULBs ODF+ and 13 ODF++. All cities in Punjab have been certified ODF, 33 are ODF+ and 17 are ODF++. Chandigarh is certified ODF++ and 3 Star (GFC). During an online review meeting with the senior officials of the states of Punjab, Haryana and UT of Chandigarh, Secretary MoHUA requested the States/UT to see that all their ULBs improve their status to ODF+, ODF++ and also strive to achieve garbage free city status.  Ms. Keshni Anand Arora, Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, Smt. Vini Mahajan, Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab & Shri Manoj Kumar Parida, Advisor to Administrator, UT of Chandigarh attended the meeting besides the Mission Directors of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

​The state of Haryana has constructed 65,829(93%) IHHLs against a target of 71,000 units and constructed 11,374 CT/PT seats against a target of 10,394 seats. Chandigarh has achieved the target of 6,117 IHHLs and constructed 2,423 CT/PT seats against a target of 976 while Punjab has so far constructed 1,00,157 (99%) IHHLs and 6,435 CT/PT seats. The States were requested to achieve the IHHL targets expeditiously.

​Chandigarh is currently processing 91 % of the 482 TPD waste generated while Haryana is processing 50% of the 4,895 TPD. Punjab is currently processing 71 % of the 4,108 TPD of waste generated. Secretary, MoHUA requested the States/UTs to increase the processing capacity.

​Punjab and Haryana have achieved 97% and 94% door-to-door collection of solid waste respectively. Chandigarh has achieved 100% door-to-door waste collection. In Punjab source segregation of waste is being practiced in 77% of the wards while in Haryana it is in 65% of the wards. In Chandigarh, source segregation is being practiced in 92% of the wards. Secretary MoHUA requested the State/UT to ensure that 100% source segregation be achieved expeditiously.

​Explaining the contours of the changes in the Swachh Survekshan 2021, Secretary, MoHUA stated that the new prize will be called 'Prerak Dauur Samman'. Qualifying criteria for this award will be based on segregation of waste, processing capacity for wet waste, recycling of waste, recycling of Construction & Demolition waste, percentage of waste going into landfills and sanitation status of cities and the ranking will be 'Divya', 'Anupam', 'Ujjwal', 'Udit' and 'Arohi'. He said that cleanliness besides changing the perception of the city as to how it manages waste also makes it beautiful and asked the States to make vigorous efforts in this direction. Secretary (MoHUA) suggested that the two states/UT should at least aim for Ujjwal (Silver).

​The Chief Secretaries of both the States and Advisor of Chandigarh gave an account of the efforts being made by them under the Swachh Bharat Mission including scientific waste processing. They assured that all efforts would be made to improve the performance of the States/UT and they will do well. Secretary, MoHUA appreciated the efforts of the States in improving the performance under the Mission thereby improving their rank under Swachh Survekshan, 2020. This will change the perception of the people towards cities which in turn will bring the economic opportunities to the cities. He mentioned that segregation of waste by the public is the key to cleanliness and prosperity and cited the example of Indore city where a Bio-Methanation plant is being set up which would pay the municipality for the wet waste procured from it. Secretary, MoHUA requested the States/UT to fix targets and work with the cities for achieving them.

8-Aug-2020: PM inaugurates Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra - an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra - an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission, at the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti at Rajghat, New Delhi. A tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra (RSK) was first announced by the Prime Minister on 10th April 2017, on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Gandhiji's Champaran Satyagraha. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister, Jal Shakti and Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State, Jal Shakti were present on the occasion.

Tour of Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra: The RSK has a balanced mix of digital and outdoor installations tracking India’s transformation from having over 50 crore people defecating in the open in 2014 to becoming open defecation free in 2019. The Prime Minister took a tour of the three distinct sections of the RSK. He first experienced a unique 360° audio visual immersive show in Hall 1 which provides an overview of the Swachh Bharat journey. He then moved to Hall 2 which contains a series of interactive LED panels, hologram boxes, interactive games and much more on the SBM. The Prime Minister also saw the installations in the lawn adjacent to RSK which showcase three exhibits which are synonymous with the SBM - Mahatma Gandhi leading people to the Swachhata pledge, Rani Mistris of rural Jharkhand and children Swachhagrahis who call themselves Vaanar Sena.

Interaction with school students: After taking a tour of the entire RSK, the Prime Minister briefly visited the RSK souvenir centre. He then interacted with 36 school students from Delhi, representing all States and Union Territories of India at the Amphitheatre of the RSK, adhering to social distancing protocols. The children shared with the Prime Minister their experiences with Swachhata activities at home and at school, and their impressions of the RSK. One of them also asked the Prime Minister what his favourite part of the RSK was, to which the Prime Minister replied that he most enjoyed the portion dedicated to the inspiration of the SBM, Mahatma Gandhi.

Address to the nation: After interacting with the children, the Prime Minister addressed the nation. The Prime Minister reminisced the journey of the Swachh Bharat Mission and dedicated the RSK as a permanent tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. He lauded the people of India for making Swachhata a Jan Andolan and urged them to continue to do so in the future. He reiterated the importance of swachhata in our daily lives, especially during our fight against the coronavirus.

And on this occasion, the Prime Minister launched ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat’, a special week long campaign for swachhata in the run up to Independence Day, during which each day till 15th August will have special swachhata initiatives in urban and rural India to re-enforce the Jan Andolan for swachhata.

Visiting the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra: The Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra will be open to the public from 9th August from 8 AM to 5 PM, in accordance with the prescribed guidelines for social distancing and hygiene. As the number of people who may visit the RSK at a given point in time will have to be limited, no tours will be organized for students in the short term. However, virtual tours of the RSK will also be organized till such time as physical tours are possible. The first such virtual tour will be organized on 13th August with Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. For ticket bookings and more information on the RSK, one may log on to rsk.ddws.gov.in

3-Jul-2020: 'Prerak Dauur Samman' New category of awards introduced

​Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), while launching the toolkit for Swachh Survekshan 2021, the sixth edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India conducted by MoHUA has stated that , “Every year, the Swachh Survekshan is redesigned innovatively, to ensure that the process becomes more robust, with focus on sustaining the behaviour change. Like in the last year, keeping in mind the Ministry’s efforts towards ensuring sustainability of the sanitation value chain, the SS 2021 indicators focus on parameters pertaining to wastewater treatment and reuse along with faecal sludge, he added. Also present on the occasion was Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA who made a detailed presentation on the methodology and various parameters of Swachh Survekshan 2021.

​Shri Puri announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional sub- categories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) - with top three cities being recognized in each. In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

• Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories
• Processing capacity against wet waste generated
• Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste
• Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing
• Percentage of waste going to landfills
• Sanitation status of cities

​While addressing the participants through a webinar, the Minister also touched upon how Swachh Survekshan has become a tool for citizen engagement in the spirit of a true ‘Jan Andolan’. “This year, the focus on citizen participation has taken a notch higher by introducing indicators that encourage innovations led by citizens, start-ups, entrepreneurs and Swachhata Champions amongst others”.  A key highlight of the event was also the launch of the integrated SBM-Urban MIS portal. Over the years, digital innovations have always been at the forefront of the Mission enabling scaling up and better monitoring of outcomes along with increased citizen engagement. The launch of the integrated MIS portal is an effort by the Ministry to bring the numerous digital initiatives on a single platform thus ensuring a unified and hassle-free experience for States and cities and leading the way towards the creation of not just a Swachh but a truly digital India. The virtual event also saw the signing of the Engagement and Coordination Arrangement (ECA) between MoHUA and the USAID which is a continuation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in the field of WASH that was signed between GOI and USAID in 2015.

​These launches were followed by a webinar on ‘Segregation at Source: Key to Solid Waste Management’ which was attended by over 1,000 State and Urban Local Body (ULB) officials and other stakeholders. The workshop saw presentations from lighthouse cities such as Navi Mumbai, Surat, Khargone and Karad who showcased their source segregation models along with the release of a report ‘Segregate, Segregate, Segregate’ by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). A workshop on ‘Source Segregation: The Key to Solid Waste Management’ was also organized on the sidelines and was attended by over 1000 State and Urban Local Body (ULB) officials and other stakeholders. Similarly, the crucial issues of legacy waste management and remediation of landfills have also been brought to the fore in this edition of Survekshan”.

​As a prelude to encouraging cities to improve urban sanitation, MoHUA had conducted Swachh Survekshan 2016 survey for the rating of 73 cities in January 2016, followed by Swachh Survekshan 2017 conducted in January-February 2017 ranking 434 cities. Swachh Survekshan 2018, which became the world’s largest cleanliness survey, ranked 4203 cities followed by Swachh Survekshan 2019 which not only covered 4237 cities but was also the first of its kind completely digital survey completed in a record time of 28 days. Swachh Survekshan 2020 continued the momentum and saw an unprecedented participation of 1.87 crore citizens.  Going a step forward, to ensure sustainability of on-ground performance of cities, the Ministry has also introduced Swachh Survekshan League last year, a quarterly cleanliness assessment of cities and towns to be done in three quarters and 25% weightage integrated into the final Swachh Survekshan results.

​Since its launch in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) has made significant progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. 4324 Urban ULBs have been declared ODF (4204 certified ODF), 1306 cities certified ODF+ and 489 cities certified ODF++.  Moreover, 66 lakhs individual household toilets and over 6 lakhs community/ public toilets have been constructed/ or are under construction. Additionally, over 59,900 toilets across 2900+ cities have been made live on Google Maps. In the area of solid waste management, 96% of wards have 100% door-to door collection while 66% of the total waste generated is being processed. A total of six cities have been certified as 5 Star, 86 as 3 star and 64 as 1 star under the Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities.

​Swachh Survekshan has caught the imagination of citizens and stakeholder alike and the increasing participation with every passing year is testimony to the way in which the citizens have taken complete ownership of the Swachhata of their cities. The survey has thus succeeded in fostering a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens, towards creating cleaner, more habitable cities. Swachh Survekshan has today made ‘Swachhata’ a thing of motivation and pride – something to look forward to and aspire for.  While Mysuru had won the award for the Cleanest City of India in the first edition of the survey, Indore has retained the top position for three consecutive years (2017,2018, 2019). The results for Swachh Survekshan 2020 will be announced shortly by the Ministry.

​Knowledge management and capacity building continues to be a key focus of the Ministry. With this objective in mind, the Ministry launched two documents prepared by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) – the ‘Advisory on On-Site and Off-Site Sewage Management Practices’ and the guidance book on ‘Segregated Collection and Transportation of Municipal Solid Waste’. While the first will be of immense use to States and cities in adopting integrated on-site and off-site sewage treatment technologies, the latter elaborates on various aspects of segregated waste collection and transportation systems along with case studies and best practices from different ULBs.