New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation via virtual conference on Friday. PM Modi launched the two initiatives at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi.


Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore as well as ministers of urban development of states and union territories were also a part of the event.



After launching the second phase of both the missions, Prime Minister Modi addressed the event and said that the aim of Swach Bharat Mission 2.0 is to make the cities garbage-free. With this 2nd phase, the govt is also aiming at sewage and safety management, making cities water-secure and ensuring that dirty nullahs don't merge into rivers.


PM Modi further said that this 2nd phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 & AMRUT 2.0 is also an important step in fulfilling the dreams of BR Ambedkar.


PM said, "It's our privilege that today's program has been organised at BR Ambedkar Center. He believed that urban development was pivotal to equality."


The Prime Minister further said that even the kids are aware that we need to make our mother clean and garbage free. PM said, "Toffee wrappers are no more thrown on floors but kept in pockets. Kids alert elders not to litter around. The youth are taking initiative. Some are earning wealth from waste, while some are creating awareness. There is segregation of dry and wet waste, there's awareness."


Key Highlights of PM Modi's speech during the event:



  • The garbage mountains in cities will be processed and removed completely as part of SBM-U second phase. PM Modi said, "One such garbage mountain has been in Delhi for long, it's also waiting to be removed."

  • India is processing about 1 lakh tonnes of waste every day. When the campaign in 2014, less than 20% of the waste was being processed. Today about 70% of daily waste is being processed and now the government is aiming to take it to 100%.

  • PM Modi said that the use of modern technology is also increasing continuously for the development of cities in the country. PM said, "the country has launched the National Automobile Scrappage Policy. This new scrapping policy gives further strength to the campaign of Waste to Wealth, circular economy."

  • PM Modi further said that the most important companions of this urban scheme in any city are street vendors, hawkers, and PM Svanidhi Yojana has come as a new ray of hope for these people.


Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 


Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 envisions to make all cities ''garbage free'' and ensure grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, make all urban local bodies open defecation free plus and those with a population of less than one lakh as open defecation free plus, thereby achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas.


The mission will focus on source segregation of solid waste, utilising 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, PMO said in a statement.


The outlay of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 is around ₹ 1.41 lakh crore, it said.


Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 aims at providing 100 per cent coverage of water supply to all households in around 4,700 urban local bodies by providing about 2.68 crore tap connections and 100 per cent coverage of sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities by providing around 2.64 crore sewer or septage connections, which will benefit more than 10.5 crore people in urban areas