61 Lakh Individual Toilets & 5.6 Lakh Community Toilets Completed : Puri

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep S Puri on December 19, 2019, stated that urban areas of 35 states / UTs have become ODF (All states/UTs except a few ULBs from West Bengal) and in all, 4,320 cities have declared themselves ODF, of which 4,166 cities have been certified through third party verification.

He also informed that about 61 lakh individual toilets and 5.6 lakh Community Toilets have been completed exceeding the targets. Today, 96% of wards in the country are covered by door to door collection, 73% of wards are practicing source segregation, and 60% waste generated is being scientifically processed. Puri was addressing the MPs of the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs here on December 19.

Earlier, he welcomed all the Members of the Parliament of the Consultative Committee attached to the MoHUA and informed that the Government is implementing – Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission (SCM), Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban(SBM-U), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), and Metro Rails. They complement each other helping the all-round development of the cities, Puri said.

The meeting was attended by Members of Parliament M V V Satyanaraya, Ramcharan Bohra, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Rajmani Patel, K T S Tulsi, and Sanjay Singh. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA, and senior officers of the Ministry also attended the meeting.  Secretary, MoHUA,  gave an overall view of various Missions of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. This was followed by presentation by the respective Mission Directors , according to a PIB release.

Providing details of the Smart City Mission, Puri informed that the Mission covers 100 cities selected through achallenge  process at the national level. Investments worth Rs 2.05 lakh crore have been proposed by 100 Smart Cities as part of their smart city plans with Central Assistance of Rs 48,000 crore. These projects will be funded through – Central Assistance & State contribution, PPP, debt/loans and through convergence from other schemes. Projects worth Rs 1.06 lakh crore have either been completed or are under implementation.

Speaking about Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, Puri informed that it seeks to provide houses to all eligible families/ beneficiaries by 2022. Altogether 4,421 cities/towns have been covered under the Mission. Of the validated demand of 1.12 crore houses, construction of 96.50 lakh houses involving central assistance of Rs.1.51 lakh crore has been approved.  Central assistance of Rs. 57,914 crore has been released out of budgetary allocations and Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR).  More than 57 lakh houses have been grounded of which construction of about 29 lakh is complete, Puri added.

As regards, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation, he informed that the scheme focuses on development of basic urban infrastructure in 500 Mission cities- potable water for every household; improvement in treatment capacity of sewerage; development of  city parks and reform implementation.

Sanjay Singh, MP, mentioned the issue of Swachhtha App and the negative response of people and desired to know as to what is being done about it. K T S Tulsi, MP, desired to know about the policy relating to BRTS corridors in the country.   Ramcharan Bohra, MP, desired to know about the area based development schemes under the Smart City Mission.