NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep S Puri said 1000 cities have been targeted to become 3-star garbage free by October 2024.
He said this on the occasion of International Zero Waste Day 2023 in the national capital.
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Highlighting the progress in the GFC-Star rating protocol, launched in January 2018 to encourage a competitive, mission-mode spirit among ULBs, he further said that the certification has increased exponentially since inception.
While interacting with the ‘Swachhta Doots’ from across the nation, the Minister congratulated them for being change makers and leaders in their community and also turning challenges to livelihood opportunities.
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Speaking about the achievements of the Mission, the Minister informed that urban India has become Open Defecation Free (ODF), with all 4,715 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) completely ODF, 3,547 ULBs are ODF+ with functional and hygienic community and public toilets and 1,191 ULBs are ODF++ with complete faecal sludge management.
Further, waste processing in India has gone up by over four times from 17 per cent in 2014 to 75 per cent today.
This has been aided through 100 per cent door-to-door waste collection in 97 per cent wards and source segregation of waste being practiced by citizens across almost 90% wards in all ULBs in the country.
Puri expressed confidence that the resolve and determination shown in achieving the targets of SBM-U would be amplified manifold in the second phase of the mission (SBM-U 2.0) where India aims to become garbage free nation.
He highlighted the importance of today’s ‘Garbage Free Cities’ rally in raising awareness about waste management in the country, as changes in consumption patterns and rapid urbanisation drive up waste generation.