Bengaluru, Jun 25 (DHNS): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the Centre should bear 90 percent of the cost for the Swachh Bharat mission.

Siddaramaiah’s suggestion was unanimously agreed upon by other members in a sub-group of chief ministers for the Swachh Bharat mission at a meeting of the panel in Bengaluru. Sub-group chairman Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu said he would convey the opinion of the panel to the Centre soon.

At present, the Centre chips in 75 percent of the cost of the project, while the states have to bear the balance 25 percent. For Karnataka, the cost of implementing the mission for the year 2015-16 is Rs 955.76 crore (Central share of Rs 716.82 crore and state share of Rs 238.94 crore).

However, Siddaramaiah said the state’s own revenues would not be enough to meet the challenges under Swachh Bharat. At the same time, levying additional taxes to generate funds may not serve the purpose. “Karnataka is already considered a highly taxed state and it would not be possible to increase tax.... To fulfil the objectives of Swachh Bharat, the project should be declared a Centrally sponsored scheme with funding rates of 90:10 between the Centre and the states,” he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that Bengaluru would soon become the first city in the country where the garbage processing capacity will exceed the waste generated. Siddaramaiah said Bengaluru generated 4,000 tonnes of waste per day (TPD) but would soon have waste processing plants with a capacity of 6,500 tonnes.

Four composting plants of 1,500-TPD capacity on public private partnership (PPP) framework have been functioning in Bengaluru. In addition, six new municipal solid waste processing plants are being set up at a cost of Rs 350 crore to process 2,300 tonnes per day of municipal solid waste.

Two municipal solid waste processing plants have been sanctioned on PPP framework for waste to energy of a capacity of 1,600 tonnes per day. Bio-mechanisation facility of 600 tonnes per day will be taken up under PPP framework, the chief minister said.

Other suggestions

- States should be given a free hand in framing rules for regulating the environment
- Water and sanitation aspects should be included under Swachh Bharat
- Bring changes in National Water Policy incorporating domestic cattle or animal water requirement in rural areas

States favour generation of power from waste

A meeting of the sub-group of chief ministers on Swachh Bharat Mission, on Wednesday, favoured generation of power from waste and decided to come out with a comprehensive action plan by August 15.

The sub-group constituted under the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu resolved to work on sustainable models to generate energy from garbage. “The country generates 1.3 lakh tonnes of waste every day which has the capacity to generate 1,300 MW of power. We will work out an action plan, including involving private players to tap this energy potential from bio-mass,” Naidu told reporters after the meeting.

Naidu said a consensus would be arrived at providing concessions from the state governments and the Centre to private entrepreneurs to set up power plants to generate energy from waste. Calculations have indicated that it would take Rs six for generating one unit of power after concessions. Electricity regulatory authorities will decide on the tariff at which the power would be purchased by escoms, he said. As much as 30 MW can be generated from 4,000 tonnes of garbage generated in Bengaluru per day after segregation and recycling, and 100 MW from the 10,000 tonnes of garbage generated across the state per day.

Naidu said the sub-group has been studying various revenue models for operation and maintenance of community and public toilets and best practices in solid and liquid waste management technology. In particular, sugar cane and coconut waste disposal in Bengaluru, waste to energy generation in Pune municipal corporation, door-to-door garbage collection in Visakhapatnam and cleanliness awareness drive by Mizoram Youth Association had been studied, he said.

The panel was also looking at solutions of disposal of debris, segregation of debris and reuse after recycling, he said.

He said the total cost of Swachh Bharat Mission, including construction of toilets and making the country open defecation-free by 2019 would cost Rs 2.24 lakh crore.

The panel would also focus on the need for proper drainage and sanitation facilities both in urban and rural areas. Naidu said that at its next meeting in New Delhi, the sub-group would interact with the Union Finance, Power and Urban Development ministers and also the Central Electricity Commission to put its waste-to-energy solution into action mode.

Only four CMs attend meeting

The sub-group on Swachh Bharat Mission has a total of nine chief ministers. However, only four attended the panel meeting in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

It was the third meeting of the sub-group, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Earlier meetings were held in New Delhi and Chandigarh.

Besides Naidu, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla attended Wednesday’s meeting. West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and Sikkim were represented by either Cabinet ministers of the respective states or officials.