Urban waste management is an important agenda for govt: Iyer

Addressing the day-2 of the 6th edition of ISC-FICCI Sanitation Awards and India Sanitation Conclave, Iyer said that it will be important to work with all stakeholders in the urban area including the private sector. 

He added that behavioral change is at the heart of all the programs including Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, Conserve Water, etc. towards sanitation and managing solid and liquid waste management. “We also have set up a Behavior Insights Unit in the Aayog which focuses on behavioral change and tries to mainstream into all government programs.” 

Iyer said that multiple state governments are playing an important role in solid and liquid waste management including Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. “This is an agenda which needs to be promoted very aggressively and we, at NITI Aayog, are working with the state governments along with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to take the agenda of wastewater treatment forward.” 

He further said that there is a realization that we need to have more and more decentralized options in municipal wastewater management. “We have big wastewater treatment plants, high technology and energy intensive sequential batch reactors, etc. but now we have to look at a more decentralized model and they both need to go together.” 

Iyer urged the India Sanitation Coalition to collaborate with NITI Aayog and state governments as part of NITI Aayog’s outreach to states. “We have started the State Support Mission where we are focusing on providing technical assistance to state governments to evaluate the demands of the state as they are working towards attaining an inclusive high growth trajectory.” 

He said that there is a huge trend towards urbanization, and it is going to be the key. “By 2047, more than 50 per cent of the country will be living in urban areas. If we don’t have basic services in urban and peri-urban areas, then it is going to be a big challenge. Taking solid and liquid waste management forward, both the state governments and urban local bodies will play a critical role in this.”