In news- Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) 2.0.
About SBM-U 2.0-
- The goal of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0’ is to ensure ‘Garbage-Free’ cities.
- It will 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.
- It envisions to make all urban local bodies “as ODF+” and those with a population of below 1 lakh “as ODF++”, thereby achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas.
- An area is declared ODF+ if in a day, not a single person is found defecating and/or urinating in the open and all community and public toilets are functional.
- The ODF++ requires safe management and treatment of faecal sludge and sewage, with no discharging or dumping in drains, water bodies or open areas.
- The outlay of SBM-U 2.0 is around ₹1.41 lakh crore.
About Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM):
- Also called the Clean India Mission, it was launched on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2014 in New Delhi.
- It seeks to eradicate open defecation, convert insanitary toilets to flush toilets, eradicate manual scavenging and facilitate solid waste management.
- Covered 4041 statutory towns across India and aimed to make the streets, roads and infrastructure clean by October 2, 2019 (Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary).
- The Rural mission, known as Swachh Bharat Gramin, aimed to make Village Panchayats open defecation free by October 2, 2019.
- At the core of this mission lie six components:
- Individual household toilets;
- Community toilets;
- Public toilets;
- Municipal Solid Waste Management;
- Information and Educating Communication (IEC) and Public Awareness;
- Capacity Building;
- The mission contributes to India reaching Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6).
- The action plan for SBM was laid by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (now Ministry of Jalshakti).