NEW DELHI: India celebrated a decade of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) on Tuesday, a historic initiative that has enhanced urban living conditions throughout the nation.
Launched on June 25, 2015, AMRUT aimed to provide every urban family with tap water, sewerage connections, parks, and improved mobility infrastructure, with considerable focus on inclusiveness and sustainability.
Initially covering 500 selected cities (now 485 due to administrative mergers), the centrally sponsored scheme prioritised water supply, sewerage, stormwater drainage, urban transport, and green public spaces.
Over the past 10 years, the mission has sanctioned 14,828 projects worth Rs 2.73 lakh crore under AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0. Of these, physical work worth Rs 1.12 lakh crore has been completed, significantly improving the quality of life in urban areas.
The total of Rs 77,640 crore of State Annual Action Plans has been approved under AMRUT, of which Rs 35,990 crore is committed Central Assistance.
The mission has led to 2.03 crore new tap water connections and 1.50 crore sewer connections. Public areas have also been beautified, with 544 water bodies having been rejuvenated and more than 9,500 acres being developed as green spaces and parks.
In 2021, AMRUT 2.0 was rolled out with increased coverage to all ULBs at an outlay of Rs 2.99 lakh crore, of which Rs 76,760 crore is the central share.
The goal of this phase is to enable cities to become water-secure and self-sufficient. Under AMRUT 2.0, the “Jal Hi AMRIT” programme involves treatment and reuse of wastewater for better water availability.
A total of 3,568 water supply projects for Rs 1.14 lakh crore have been approved under AMRUT 2.0, which include 181 lakh new tap connections and 10,647 MLD of water treatment capacity.
For septage management and sewerage, 592 projects to the tune of Rs 67,607 crore have been approved so that 67.11 lakh new sewer connections and 6,739 MLD of sewage treatment capacity can be made available. The mission also encourages entrepreneurship and innovation under the Technology Sub-Mission.
As many as 120 start-ups have been shortlisted and are being mapped to 82 cities for pilot initiatives. Aside from this, more than 10,000 women from self-help groups have been involved through the ‘AMRUT Mitra’ initiative, lending themselves to 1,762 projects.
The ‘Drink from Tap’ programme has approved 381 projects worth Rs 23,490 crore to supply safe drinking water directly through household taps.
Over 90,000 persons covering contractors, officials, youth, and plumbers have been trained under different capacity-building initiatives.