 "Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, M. Venkaiah Naidu addresses a press conference on the one year of the Swachh Bharat Mission, in New Delhi on Thursday. Secretary, Ministry of Urba")
Naidu also noted that toilet construction under the mission is yet to begin in five Union Territories, including Delhi.
"Swachh Bharat initiative is different from others in the sense that this targets the minds of people while others seek to meet the needs already felt in the minds of the people," Naidu told reporters on the occasion of completion of one year of the Mission.
He said the initiative is unique in nature and more challenging since it aims at creating demand for sanitary services and infrastructure, and involves behaviour changes.
As per the target of construction of 25 lakh household toilets in urban areas till March 2016 under the Mission, construction of 16.45 lakh toilets has been taken up and 4.65 lakh toilets have already been built.
"The physical performance in respect of Mission targets in urban areas over the last one year has been encouraging.
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Based on reports received till August this year, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have performed well in construction of individual household toilets," Naidu said.
He, however, said, "Some major states like UP, Bihar and Tamil Nadu are still to pick up momentum in this regard" and added, "Construction is still to begin in Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Delhi and four North-Eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura besides Kerala and Tamil Nadu."
Under Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas, construction of 1.04 crore household toilets and 5.28 lakh community and public toilet seats besides 100 per cent door to door collection of solid waste and its scientific disposal are envisaged at a total cost of Rs 66,009 crore.
UD Ministry has so far released Rs 1038.72 crore to 30 states and Union Territories. Manipur and five UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep are yet to be released funds.
In order to further reinforce and consolidate behavioral changes, an intensive campaign was launched by the government on September 25 which will continue till March next year to propel people into action for cleanliness and the drive will be taken up in 11 thematic areas.
Thematic areas will cover agricultural and grain markets, religious and tourism places, educational institutions, Resident Welfare Associations, underpasses and flyovers, Cantonment Boards, water bodies and recreation places, hospitals, old cities and government offices.
Referring to the enthusiasm on the part of several states, Naidu said over and above the Central assistance of Rs 4,000 for construction of each toilet in urban areas, 13 states are providing additional assistance in the range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 13,000.
Regarding construction of community and public toilets in urban areas, Naidu said as against the target of building one lakh toilet seats by March 2016, construction of 94,653 toilet seats has been taken up and 24,233 seats have already been built while the rest are in progress.
Stating that solid waste management is the largest part of the mission in urban areas, Naidu said till August this year, 100 per cent door to door collection of municipal solid waste has been reported in 31,593 of the total 78,003 wards in urban areas of the country. The mission is underway to achieve the target of door to door collection of 50 per cent of solid waste by March 2016, he added.
Regarding processing of solid waste, he said as against the target of processing of 35 per cent of 1,42,580 tonnes of solid waste being generated every day in urban areas, 17.34 per cent is being processed at the moment.
Giving instances of good performance by some urban local bodies, Naidu informed that Surat and Morbi in Gujarat have already met the Mission targets of construction of 6,634 and 3,028 individual toilets. Ahmedabad and Mahisagar, also in Gujarat, are very close to meeting the targets of construction of 22,562 and 3,028 toilets.
With respect to solid waste management, Chandigarh leads the list of good performers with 100 per cent processing followed by Meghalaya (58 per cent), Delhi (52 per cent), Kerala and Manipur (50 per cent), Telanagana (48 per cent), Karnataka (34 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (30 per cent).
Ahmedabad (64 wards), Surat (38), Mahisagar (27) and Morbi (14 wards), all in Gujarat and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (30 wards) have reported 100 per cent door to door collection of solid waste in all wards.
Naidu also gave details of various measures taken by the Centre to enable effective implementation of the Mission, including policy support under consideration to promote conversion of solid waste into compost and energy and procurement of power generated from such waste.
