Fix timelines for each project under SBM (U) Action Plan:CS

JAMMU : Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, while reviewing the action plan framed under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) here on friday, impressed upon the concerned officers to fix timeline for each of the projects proposed under this plan.
The meeting besides Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD was attended by Chairman, JK Pollution Control Committee; DG, Rural Sanitation and MD, SBM- Urban along with other concerned officers.
The Chief Secretary had component wise review of the actions proposed for management of waste anticipated to be generated till 2035. He said that the action plan thus framed is worth applicable so demands further thought process to delineate the timelines for its successful implementation.
He took note of the quantum of waste generated in each of the ULBs along with that of the capital cities. He called for having an end to end solution for effective treatment and management of each kind of the waste generated here.
Dulloo maintained that funds for such a crucial activity would never act as a stumbling block. He observed that the proposed costs are well within the range to be arranged over next few years. He advised the Department to enhance their capacity simultaneously for fructifying these projects within the set deadlines.
He said that besides the facilities for treatment of legacy waste, solid waste, grey water, used water, plastic waste and Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste the department should take into account inclusion of integrated sewerage network to take such waste to the sites of their treatment and processing.
In addition, the Chief Secretary asked them to explore the option of taking up projects under AMRUT 2.0 wherever feasible as per its guidelines. He also suggested to include projects under Capex where there is no other scheme to support the activity.
Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Mandeep Kaur, while speaking in the meeting, said this action plan is in consonance with the NGT directions besides a roadmap for scientific disposal of urban waste for the next 10 years.
She made out that the action plan had been framed after taking into account the decadal growth rate of the population and the waste expected to be generated by this population on daily basis. The remediation of legacy waste besides other aspects of processing, treatment and disposal had been considered while framing this updated plan, she added.
MD, SBM (U), Devansh Yadav, informed the meeting that it is expected that the population of the urban areas of the UT would reach to about 51.50 lakh till 2035 generating 2481 TPD. He also mentioned about segregation of each ULB and Cantonment Board as per the quantum of waste to be generated and facilities required for its management till 2035. He presented details of the existing facilities in Municipal Corporations, ULBs of Jammu/Kashmir and that of Cantonment Boards in both Jammu and Srinagar.
The meeting was also apprised of the facilities required for door to door collection and transportation of waste. Its processing in different municipalities of the UT and those proposed under clusters of towns together was divulged along with costs for operation and maintenance of assets for all these years.
About the legacy waste, it was said that a total of 26,11,102 MT of waste has been reported by the municipal bodies. Out of the same, 3,91,604 MT had already been treated and rest of the 22,19,498 MT needs to be treated under this plan for which works stand awarded or tenders floated at most of the locations.
Different models for management of solid, liquid, ISWM, plastic and legacy waste were discussed in the meeting. It was added that tender has been floated for hiring of PDMC for preparation of detailed estimates for all the 75 ULBs and 4 responsive bids have been received for this purpose, as was informed in the meeting.