Srinagar District Shines In Cleanliness, Achieves 100 Per Cent Model Villages Under Swachh Bharat Mission

Srinagar has achieved the status of being the model district in the nation as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G), and is included in the list of the country's top ten districts.

The official spokesperson, stated that the district has successfully fulfilled the objective of establishing 100 per cent model villages under central cleanliness initiative, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-G 2.0), reports Hindustan Times.

“The district administration Srinagar with a dedicated team of Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj launched an ambitious plan to transform all the villages of the district under SBM,” remarked the spokesperson.

With a vision to bring about comprehensive socio-economic upliftment, the district embarked on a cleanliness mission to make its rural villages into model villages.

The spokesperson emphasised the importance of this initiative in improving the quality of life for the villagers.

The Srinagar district (rural) comprises four blocks — Harwan, Khonmoh, Srinagar, and Qamarwari. These blocks have a total of 21 Gram Panchayats and 26 villages.

To achieve the vision of inclusive cleanliness, a saturation campaign was launched, ensuring that all households, schools, anganwadi centres, and Panchayat Ghar in the villages have access to functional toilets.

Additionally, drainage and soakage pits were constructed for the proper disposal of grey water.

As a result, all 26 villages in the district were declared open-defecation free (ODF)-Plus in the 'Aspiring' category of the SBM.

To further improve sanitation in these villages and make them ODF-Plus 'Rising', infrastructure was developed for solid waste management. This included the construction of segregation sheds and compost pits to properly separate and manage waste.

The central government has approved Phase-2 of SBM until 2024-2025, with a focus on ODF-Plus and solid and liquid waste management (SLWM).

The program aims to ensure that ODF sustainability is maintained. Under this program, eligible households will continue to receive incentives.

Funding norms for SLWM have been revised to a per capita basis, and the financial assistance provided to Gram Panchayats for the construction of Community Managed Sanitary Complex (CMSC) at the village level, has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per CMSC.