PM launches second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, AMRUT
New Delhi, Oct 01 (PTI):
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, asserting that these missions were aimed at making cities garbage free and water secure. Under the new phase, it will be ensured that no untreated drain waste is discharged into any river of the country, Modi said after launching SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 at the Ambedkar International Centre here.
He said that the new phases of these missions are also an important step in fulfilling dreams of B R Ambedkar. “It’s our privilege that today’s programme has been organised at the BR Ambedkar Centre. Babasaheb believed that urban development was pivotal to removing inequality,” he said.
Noting that many people from villages come to cities with the aspiration of a better life, he said they get employment but their living standard is often worse than in villages. This is like a double whammy as they are away from home, and stay in such a situation, Modi said adding that Babasaheb’s great emphasis was on changing this situation.
India is processing about one lakh tonne of waste every day, he said, asserting that garbage mountains in cities will be processed and removed completely under the new phases of the two missions. The prime minister said that in 2014, people took a pledge to make India open defecation free and they fulfilled this pledge with the construction of more than 10 crore toilets.
Now, the goal of SBM-Urban 2.0 is to make the cities completely free of garbage, he said and underlined the scope of the country’s target in the next phase of AMRUT as ‘improving sewage and septic management, making our cities water safe cities and ensuring that no sewage drains anywhere in our rivers’.
Modi noted that the young generation has taken the initiative to strengthen the cleanliness campaign. “Toffee wrappers are no longer thrown on the ground, but kept in pockets. Small children now urge the elders not to litter,” he said.
