Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday participated in Swachhata Abhiyan to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and urged all citizens to keep strengthening the Swachh Bharat Mission.
In a social media post, PM Modi said, “Today, on Gandhi Jayanti, I took part in Swachhata-related activities with my young friends. I urge you all to also take part in some or the other such activity during the day and, at the same time, keep strengthening the Swachh Bharat Mission.”
The day also assumed significance as the Swachh Bharat Mission completed 10 years, which was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2014.
The mission was divided into SBM-Gramin for villages and SBM-Urban for cities, executed by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, respectively.
According to the WHO, there were 300,000 fewer diarrhoeal deaths in 2019 compared to 2014, directly attributable to improved sanitation.
The Ministry data showed that families in Open Defecation Free villages saved an average of Rs 50,000 annually on health costs, and with better access to sanitation facilities, 93 percent of women reported feeling safer at home.
In 2022, the government launched Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Urban 2.0 with a target of clearing around 2,400 legacy landfill sites in the country by 2025-26.
The data showed that big cities are yet to clear any land in half of their legacy landfill sites, with only 38% of the total dumped waste being remediated so far.
The SBM dashboard maintained by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs showed that out of the 69 landfill sites in cities with populations over 1 million, land is yet to be cleared at 35 sites.
