Lok Sabha Question No. 733 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-24
Subject: Increasing Urban Challenges
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Zia Ur Rehman

## 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;
- whether  there  have  been  delays,  implementation  gaps  or  quality concerns  under  key  schemes  such  as  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Awas
- (c) 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.

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 ap proved.

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/-

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.

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