Parliament Question: Increasing Urban Challenges

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 733 TO BE ANSWERED ON JULY 24, 2025 INCREASING URBAN CHALLENGES NO. 733. SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN: Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the increasing urban challenges such as poor sanitation, housing shortage, unplanned construction and frequent urban flooding across major cities; (b) if so, the steps taken to strengthen urban infrastructure including drainage systems, waste management, rainwater harvesting and housing for the Economically Weaker Sections; (c) whether there have been delays, implementation gaps or quality concerns under key schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the Smart Cities Mission; and (d) if so, the details of the corrective measures taken to improve execution, ensure transparency and effectively achieve the housing and sanitation goals? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU) (a) to (d): As per the provisions of Article 243W of the Constitution, in conjunction with the Seventh and Twelfth Schedules, matters relating to urban development fall within the purview of States/Urban Local Bodies. However, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) provides programmatic support to the States/Union Territories (UTs) in their urban development agenda through its various flagship Missions/Programmes viz. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0), Swatchh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0 (SBM – U 2.0), Smart Cities Mission (SCM), etc. Through these Missions/Schemes, the Central Government approves the State Plans and provides the Central Assistance (CA) to the States. The projects are selected, designed, approved and executed by the States/UTs and the cities. The State Governments release funds to the cities/districts. …2/--2- AMRUT: Management of urban flooding falls under the purview of the State Governments and the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/ Urban Development Authorities at city level, who are responsible for maintaining the drainage and sewerage system. Government of India supplements the efforts of the States through schematic interventions/ advisories. It provides financial and technical support to the States to strengthen Urban Planning ecosystem. Under AMRUT, 4,622 Million Litre per Day (MLD) sewage treatment capacity (new/augmented) has been created of which 1,437 MLD capacity has been developed for recycle/reuse. Under AMRUT 2.0, approved projects cover 6,964 MLD sewage treatment capacity (new/augmentation) of which 1,938 MLD sewage treatment capacity is for recycle/reuse. MoHUA has also launched "Jal Hi AMRIT" initiative under AMRUT 2.0 reforms, which aims to incentivize States and Union Territories (UTs) to efficiently manage sewage treatment plants for recyclable treated water meeting environmental standards on sustained basis. The focus of this initiative is to build capacity and incentivizing qualitative improvements in the treated discharge effluent. This initiative is targeted to create opportunities for suitable reuse of water, contributing to the overall goal of water security through increasing water availability under the Mission. As reported by the States, under AMRUT, 809 Storm Water Drainage projects worth ₹2,401.38 crore have been completed. Under AMRUT 2.0, rejuvenation of water bodies and wells is one of the main components. The admissible elements under this include harvesting the rainwater through storm water drains into water body (which is not receiving sewage/ effluent). Under AMRUT 2.0, 3,032 water body rejuvenation projects worth ₹6,210.66 crore have been approved. SBM-U: Growing urban population in the country has led to rise in the demand of sanitation and solid waste management in the urban areas of the country. To meet the sanitation related demand of the Urban Population, Government of India launched the SBM-U on October 2, 2014 with the objective of Open Defecation Free (ODF) and for scientific processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the urban areas of the country. Under SBM – U, the total financial outlay of the States and UTs for the entire Mission Period was ₹62,009 crore, including committed Central Assistance of ₹14,623 crore. To continue the support to cities, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U) 2.0 has been launched on October 1, 2021 for a period of five years with a vision of achieving safe sanitation and scientific management of all fractions of waste including safe disposal in scientific landfills, legacy dumpsite remediation. Under SBM – U 2.0, the total financial outlay of the States and UTs for the entire Mission Period …3/--3- is ₹1,41,600 crore, including committed Central Assistance of ₹36,465 crore. The initiatives under the SBM-U are targeted at benefitting the entire population of the city including Economically Weaker Sections. PMAY-U: MoHUA has been implementing PMAY-U since 25.06.2015 with an aim to provide all weather pucca houses with basic civic amenities to all eligible urban beneficiaries across the country. Based on the learnings from the experiences of PMAY-U, MoHUA has launched PMAY-U 2.0 ‘Housing for All’ Mission with effect from 01.09.2024 to assist 1 crore additional eligible urban beneficiaries through four verticals i.e., Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) and Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS). Under PMAY-U, formulation of projects and execution is done by States/Union Territories (UTs). It has been observed that major challenges faced by the implementing agencies include non-availability of encumbrance free land, unwillingness of beneficiaries, delay in getting statutory clearances/No Objection Certificates (NOCs), provision of infrastructure by State/UT/ULB etc. The Ministry conducts regular review meetings with States/UTs to complete the remaining houses within the stipulated timeframe. Smart Cities Mission (SCM): SCM was launched in June, 2015 and 100 cities were selected for development as Smart Cities. SCM was launched to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and the application of ‘Smart solutions’ to improve the quality of life and attract people and investments to the cities. The SCM has ended on 31-03-2025. *****