The government on Thursday set a target of making 1,000 cities 3 star garbage free by October 2024. The mission aims to rid these cities of mountains of garbage and prevent untreated sewage from draining into rivers.
On the occasion of International Zero Waste Day 2023 organized in New Delhi, Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri said, “A target has been set to make 1,000 cities 3 star garbage free by October 2023.”
Informing about the progress in the Garbage Free Cities (GFC) star rating protocol, Puri said the certification has grown exponentially since it was implemented. The scheme was launched in January 2018, to promote competition in urban local bodies.
Interacting with the Swachh Doots from across the country, the Minister congratulated them for making a difference in this direction. Listing the achievements of the mission, he said that urban India has now become open defecation free (ODF). All 4,715 ULBs are fully ODF. While 3,547 ULBs are ODF+ and 1,191 ULBs have come under the category of ODF Double Plus (ODF++), which have complete faecal sludge management.
In addition, waste processing has increased four-fold from 17 percent in 2014 to 75 percent. About 97 percent of the wards have 100 percent door-to-door garbage collection and about 90 percent of all ULBs in the country have arrangements for quality-segregated waste.
