Swachh Survekshan 2023

• 26 May 2022

For Prelims: 2^nd Phase of SBM-U

For Mains: Swachh Bharat Mission, Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the eighth edition of Swachh Survekshan (SS) – SS 2023 under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0.

• SS 2023 is curated towards achieving circularity in waste management. The survey would give priority to the principle of 3Rs – Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

What is Swachh Survekshan 2023?

• Swachh Survekshan was introduced by MoHUA in 2016 as a competitive framework to encourage cities to improve the status of urban sanitation while encouraging large scale citizen participation.
  • Over the years, Swachh Survekshan has emerged as the largest Urban sanitation survey in the world.
• In SS 2023, additional weightage has been given to source segregation of waste, enhancement of waste processing capacity of cities to match the waste generation and reduction of waste going to the dumpsites.
  • Indicators have been introduced with additional weightage on emphasizing the need for phased reduction of plastic, plastic waste processing, encourage waste to wonder parks and zero waste events.
• Ranking of Wards within the cities is also being promoted through SS 2023.
• The cities would also be assessed on dedicated indicators on the issues of ‘Open Urination’ (Yellow Spots) and ‘Open Spitting’ (Red Spots), being faced by the cities.
• MoHUA will be promoting cleaning of back lanes of the residential and commercial areas.

What is Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0?

• About:
  • SBM-U 2.0 was announced in Budget 2021-22, as the continuation of SBM-U first phase.
  • The government is trying to tap safe containment, transportation, disposal of fecal sludge, and septage from toilets.
    • SBM-U first phase was launched on 2^nd October 2014 aiming at making urban India Open Defecation Free (ODF) and achieving 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste. It lasted till October 2019.
  • It will be implemented over five years from 2021 to 2026 with an outlay of Rs.1.41 lakh crore.
  • The Mission is being implemented under the overarching principles of “waste to wealth”, and “Circular Economy”.
• Aim:
  • It focuses on source segregation of garbage, reduction in single-use plastic and air pollution, by effectively managing waste from construction and demolition activities and bioremediation of all legacy dump sites.
  • Under this mission, all wastewater will be treated properly before it is discharged into water bodies, and the government is trying to make maximum reuse a priority.
• Mission outcomes:
  • All statutory towns will become ODF+ certified (focuses on toilets with water, maintenance and hygiene).
  • All statutory towns with less than 1 lakh population will become ODF++ certified (focuses on toilets with sludge and septage management).
  • 50% of all statutory towns with less than 1 lakh population will become Water+ certified (aims to sustain toilets by treating and reuse of water).
  • All statutory towns will be at least 3-star Garbage Free rated as per MoHUA’s Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free cities.
  • Bioremediation of all legacy dumpsites.

Source: PIB