Civic officials see funding issues in Swachh Bharat

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand Swachh Bharat plan might hit operational blocks if municipal administrators are to be believed.

Municipal commissioners, who attended a day-long workshop on urban governance here on Monday, doubted whether they could implement the objectives of the mission at all since many pertinent and long-standing issues required huge efforts and funding.

“Scientific land-filling is not being done. Municipalities cannot meet the huge financial burden for it. Unlike in other countries, solid waste segregation is not being done at homes.

The waste management is also big problem. The municipalities have no mechanical devices to take up any work. Staff incompetence is another problem,” B. Janardan Reddy, commissioner and director of Municipal Administration of Telangana explained.

He raised the issue in the meeting stating that a meagre amount of Rs 4,000 had been given for construction of an individual toilet the the actual cost of construction will be around Rs 25,000.

“Moreover, in rural areas the incentive is Rs 9,000. Why urban areas are discriminated against?” he said. However, Neeraj Mandloi, urban development official, ruled out enhancing the amount and said that beneficiaries should bear the costs.

Swachh Bharat Mission cannot be a success without addressing core issues like these, two commissioners from Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation and from of Coimbatore made it clear. The Union officials brushed them off saying that they were generic in nature and states would have to take care of such issues.