Solid waste management is top priority of civic dept
Vijayawada: Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana said the State government is preparing route map to create awareness on solid waste management and municipal administration department is giving top priority for solid waste management. He said the government is conducting Swachh Andhra programme on third Saturday of every month and creating awareness on cleanliness, adding that people should have awareness that they should not throw garbage on roads.
The Minister addressed a consultation workshop on 'Behavioural Change and Capacity Building' under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 2.0, organised by Swachh Andhra Corporation (SAC) here on Monday.
Narayana said 6,500 tons of garbage is produced every day in the State and removal of solid and liquid is a challenging task. He said the previous YSRCP government had left 80 lakh tons of garbage and CM N Chandrababu Naidu had setthe target to remove garbage and change the State into clean AP by October 2. The AP government is studying best practices adopted by other States on solid and liquid waste management and been trying to implement in the State, he added.
S Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary of MA&UD, emphasised the critical role of Behaviour Change Communication in achieving sustainable sanitation outcomes. He highlighted that while significant progress has been made since the launch of SBM in 2014 by PM Narendra Modi, the real success lies in making cleanliness an ingrained cultural practice among citizens. He said, 'Sanitation and hygiene must not be seen as one-time initiatives but must become a way of life.' Underscoring the pivotal role of citizens, he called for collective ownership of the cleanliness movement, noting that government efforts alone are insufficient to bring about the scale of behavioural change required. The Principal Secretary also highlighted that under SBM 2.0, a dedicated fund of Rs 25 crore has been earmarked exclusively for Behaviour Change initiatives in the state. He outlined key priority areas:
The workshop featured technical presentations from institutions such as National Institute of Urban Affairs, RCUES, WASH Institute, AIILSG, UNICEF, and development partners like ITC. The day's deliberations concluded with actionable recommendations, including preparation of a time-bound roadmap by Swachh Andhra Corporation to complete planned capacity-building initiatives over the next six months.
Swachh Andhra Corporation Chairman Kommareddy Pattabhi, Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) P Sampath Kumar, Managing Director SAC Anil Kumar Reddy, and others participated in the workshop.
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