Lakshya Zero Dumpsite: Government of India approves ₹ 235 crore Legacy Waste

Lakshya Zero Dumpsite: Government of India approves ₹ 235 crore Legacy Waste Remediation Proposal of Andhra Pradesh

“…the goal of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 is to make a Garbage Free City, a city completely free of garbage” -Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0) was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 1st October, 2021, with the vision of creating Garbage Free Cities by 2026. Towards this end, one of the major objectives under the Mission is ‘Lakshya Zero’ Dumpsite to remediate 16 crore metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste dumpsites occupying nearly 15,000 acres of city land. Legacy dumpsites pose a major threat to the environment and contributes to air pollution and water pollution. Clearing these mountains of years-old waste is critical to not just transforming the urban landscape of the country, but also addressing the issue of public health and environmental concerns.

The National Mission organized a series of workshops on legacy waste remediation that brought stakeholders ranging from technical experts, private sector players, and senior officials from States and Cities together to identify their challenges, chalk out action plans, and arrive at viable and implementable solutions for legacy waste remediation. Sessions with representatives from Vadodara, Noida, Bhopal and Delhi sharing their experiences and learnings of carrying out dumpsite remediation work was also organized for greater knowledge exchange between States and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

MoHUA celebrated ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ fortnight from 17^th January to 31^st January 2022 on the theme of ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization’. Prioritizing the issue of dumpsite remediation, more than 260 cities across 5 States/UTs have submitted their Action Plan for Legacy Waste Remediation to MoHUA, thus signifying their commitment to the vision of garbage free cities. In this regard, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has approved the proposal worth ₹77.66 crore submitted by Andhra Pradesh for remediation of over 42 lakh MT of waste in 28 ULBs. Currently, 118 lakh MT of unremediated legacy waste is present across the State locking up over 463 acres of valuable land. MoHUA’s approval makes this the largest one-time approval of funds for legacy dumpsite remediation to Andhra Pradesh.

The oldest dumpsite of the State at Chittoor, commissioned in 1985, as well as the city with the maximum amount of waste, Nellore, are both set to achieve ‘Lakshya Zero’ under the approved project. While Nellore Municipal Corporation has proposed to remediate 6.8 lakh MT of legacy waste, Chittoor is set to remediate 1.3 lakh MT of waste and reclaim 16 acres of land. Additionally, Madanapalle Municipal Corporation is gearing up to recover 42.35 acres of land. This will assist the State to advance towards sustainable urbanization during the Amrit Kaal by taking forward Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban 2.0’s vision for ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsites’.

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