New Delhi:

The Union housing and urban affairs ministry has approved proposals worth Rs 860.35 crore for West Bengal under the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), according to a statement issued on Thursday.

According to the ministry, during the first phase of SBM-U (2014-19), a total fund of Rs 911.34 crore was allocated to West Bengal, which has been increased by one-and-a-half times to Rs 1,449.30 crore in SBM-U 2.0 (2021-26).

There are 118 legacy-waste dumpsites in West Bengal, of which only 5 per cent waste has been remediated, the statement said.

The Dhapa landfill, Kolkata’s main municipal dumping ground since 1987, has been undergoing biomining and bioremediation, the methods chosen by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for clearing legacy waste which allow extraction of usable materials from the waste.

“Cities in West Bengal generate around 4,046 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day. Under SBM-U 2.0, the state has proposed projects to manage this huge quantity of waste that includes over 4,800 composting plants and 4,500 material recovery facilities (MRFs).

“To facilitate disposal of solid waste in an environmentally-safe manner, 2,216 secured landfill facilities (SLFs) have been proposed by the state. The state has received a major push for waste to energy with the ministry’s approval for 460 compressed bio-gas (CBG) plants,” the statement said.

Proposals worth Rs 217 crore have been approved under SBM-U 2.0 for the remediation of legacy-waste dumpsites in more than 100 urban local bodies, it added.

“To maintain a seamless flow of funds for managing sanitation and waste management, the Government of India released an additional tranche of Rs 209 crore to fast-track the proposed projects by the state.

“The target is to have waste-processing plants in all cities of the state by 2026 under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban,” it said.

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