Adopt innovative steps to make Swachh Bharat a success:Experts

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Innovation and technology adoptionare required in various facets of sanitation, from cleaningof roads to management of waste, in order to make the Modigovernment’s flagship programme Swachh Bharat Mission asuccess, experts have said. Technology needs to be adopted at various stages includingmechanical sweeping of roads, monitoring the sanitation worksand processing the waste once it is collected at thelandfills, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Commissioner P KGupta said. He was speaking at the inauguration of ‘Waste and SanitechIndia 2016’ expo, organised by UMB India here. Gupta said the 1.8 crore population of Delhi generatesabout 8,000 metric tonnes of garbage daily and in additionthere is another 3,000 metric tonnes of construction anddevelopment waste. "This 8,000 metric tonnes of garbage is likely to increaseto 10,000 metric tonnes in another two-three years. If wesimply dump that garbage, we need around 1,500 acres of landand that much of land is not available in Delhi. So we needto have more technology to process this waste to drive energy,compost and whatever is left should be minimum," he said. Stating that currently Delhi has around 20 per cent ofresidue after processing the garbage, Gupta added, "slowly wehave to bring this down to zero by adopting innovative ideasand technology". Admitting that a "lot of progress" has been witnessed inthe cleanliness since the launch of the mission in October 2,2014, Gupta said around one lakh safaikarmchari (sanitationworkers) are deployed in Delhi to keep the streets clean. Water Aid India Chief Executive Madhavan said with theincreasing urban population, there is an "increasingchallenge" to manage the waste in sustainable manner. He said population in urban areas "continues to grow" andmany of the people in the region go unaccounted because oftheir settlement in unauthorised settlements. UBM India Managing Director Yogesh Mudra said India notonly generates a lot of municipal waste but also hazardous,bio-medical and e-waste. Mudra said sanitation and waste services in India "remainmeagre" with 40 per cent of Indians having access to improvedsanitation facilties and clean water which has "significanthealth costs". He said the three-day trade expo is empowered by UrbanDevelopment Ministry, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and CentralPollution Control Board (CPCB). PTI MP ASV RTASV