By News: Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), during the interaction with the Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/ senior officials of the States of Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand last month, be grateful the progress made by the States under AMRUT Mission. Also, he recommended them to complete all the projects within the extended Mission period up to 31st March 2021 to avail the Central Assistance (CA) which is 90% in the case of the two hill States.
In National Rankings of AMRUT, Himachal Pradesh ranked 15th and Uttrakhand 24th. Himachal Pradesh has met its target of 13,003 new household water tap connections by providing over 17,600 new connections. Uttarakhand has provided 36,554 new connections until the present.
Himachal Pradesh has until now provided 26,034 sewer connections against a target of 23,006 connections and Uttarakhand has given 24,818 new connections.
Himachal Pradesh has until now replaced 12,186 streetlights against the target 9,621 with LED lights, Uttarakhand has replaced 72,167 of the targeted 82,337 lights.
Both the States have implemented the OBPS (Online Building Permission System) system in their Mission cities. OBPS is part of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and should be implemented in all the ULBs apart from Mission cities, said by Shri Durga Shankar Mishra.
‘Catch the Rain’ Campaign: Both the States were requested to initiate activities under ‘Catch the Rain’ Campaign. Secretary, MoHUA emphasised on the need to conserve water, and the objective of this campaign is to conserve/harvest every drop of water.
AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) Mission:
The Mission is providing essential services, e.g. water supply, sewerage, urban transport to households and build amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged is a national priority.
Purpose of Mission:
1. Assure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.
2. Increase the amenity of the value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces, e.g. Parks
3. Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorised transport, e.g. walking and cycling. All these outcomes are valued by citizens, particularly for women, and indicators and standards have been prescribed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in the form of Services Level Benchmarks (SLBs).
Mission Components:
The Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) will seek to include some good aspect in the physical infrastructure components. The Mission Components as follows:
1. Water Supply:
- Water supply systems including augmentation of existing water supply, water treatment plants and universal metering.
- The system is provided rehabilitation of old water supply systems, including treatment plants.
- It is the rejuvenation of water bodies specifically for drinking water supply and recharging of groundwater.
- Special water supply arrangement for difficult areas, hill and coastal cities, including those having water quality problems (e.g. arsenic, fluoride)
2. Sewerage:
- The system is decentralised, networked underground sewerage systems, including augmentation of existing sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants.
- It is the rehabilitation of the old sewerage system and treatment plants.
- It is the recycling of water for beneficial purposes and reuse of wastewater.
3. Storm Water Drainage:
- Construction and improvement of drains and storm water drain in order to reduce and eliminate flooding.
4. Urban Transport:
- Footpaths/ walkways, sidewalks, foot over-bridges and facilities for non-motorised transport (e.g. bicycles).
- Multi-level parking.
5. Green Spaces / Parks:
- Development of green space and parks with special provision for children, senior citizens and Divyang friendly components.
Mission Coverage:
Five hundred cities have been selected under AMRUT. The category of cities that have been selected under AMRUT is given below:
- All Cities and Towns with a population of over one lakh with notified Municipalities as per Census 2011, including Cantonment Boards (Civilian areas),
- All Capital Cities/Towns of States/ UTs, not covered in above,
- All Cities/ Towns classified as Heritage Cities by MoHUA under the HRIDAY Scheme,
- Thirteen Cities and Towns on the stem of the main rivers with a population above 75,000 and less than 1 lakh, and
- Ten Cities from hill states, islands and tourist destinations (not more than one from each State).
Source: PIB, http://amrut.gov.in/
