Centre must bear 90 pc cost of Swachch Bharat, says CM

 Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the Centre should bear 90 per cent 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 per cent of the cost of the project, while the states have to bear the balance 25 per cent. 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