Deadline coming, govt moves to clear 214 legacy landfills in 202 cities by Oct next year

Launched at the National Urban Conclave here, the programme will focus on the 214 sites, which account for about 80% of the waste at the 1,428 legacy landfills that are yet to be remediated. Under the programme, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said cities would be offered additional financial support for remediation and waste processing projects; corporate and public sector undertakings would be roped in for supporting the projects; Central and state road agencies would be asked to use the inert waste for road construction projects; and political and administrative leaders would be asked to “adopt” one of the dumpsites. Central financial assistance of `2,716 crore had been approved for the projects.

The Minister also announced a new programme for enabling local bodies to raise private funds.  The Urban Invest Window, a project of HUDCO, will help cities identify projects, mobilise capital and implement the project, as per the Ministry. HUDCO will repurpose its regional offices for this, it said.

“It is estimated we will need Rs 80 lakh crore as our urban areas grow… I don’t think that the Centre and state governments will invest that much. We will have to encourage private partnership and investment from the public,” the Union minister said.