Five Cities of Jharkhand included among 500 Cities of the Country under 'Amrut' Mission (AMRUT)

• 12 Oct 2023

Why In News?

Recently, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has included five cities of Jharkhand - Deoghar, Madhupur, Basukinath, Godda and Mahagama in the 500 cities of the country under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

Key Points:

• The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has also sanctioned Rs 50 crore in the first phase for the rejuvenation and urban transformation of these five cities of Godda parliamentary constituency. With this amount, work will be done on basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks, infrastructure in these 5 cities.
• In 2015, the Government of India launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which aims to provide basic civic amenities such as water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks, to improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and marginalized.
• The focus of the mission is on building infrastructure, which has a direct link with the provision of better services to citizens.
• The objectives of the 'AMRUT' Mission are:
• To ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.
• Increase the convenience value of cities by developing greenery and well-maintained open spaces.
• Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or by creating facilities for non-motorised transport.
• The major project components are water supply system, sewerage, septage, storm water drainage, urban transport, green spaces and parks, improvement management and support, capacity building etc.
• Universal coverage of water supply and sewerage services is the first charge in the mission. The maximum allocation for development of parks with child and elderly friendly facilities is 2.5% of the project cost.
• The mission covers 500 cities, including all cities and towns with a population of more than one lakh with notified municipalities.
• The total outlay for AMRUT was Rs 50,000 crore for five years from FY 2015-16 to FY 2019-20.
• The Mission is being operated as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The project fund is divided among the States/UTs in a uniform formula with 50:50 weightage being given to the urban population and number of statutory towns of each State/UT.