Lok Sabha Question No. 4705 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-21
Subject: Performance of West Bengal in Solid Waste Management
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Jagannath Sarkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4705

TO BE ANSWERED ON AUGUST 21, 2025

## PERFORMANCE OF WEST BENGAL IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT NO. 4705  SHRI JAGANNATH SARKAR:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that West Bengal ranks lowest in the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) with only 8% of its municipal solid waste being processed daily;
- (b) if  so,  the  reasons  for  the  continuous  deterioration  in  the  State's performance during the last four years, especially in comparison to other States processing 100% of their waste;
- (c) whether  full  door-to-door  waste  collection  coverage  has  declined  in municipal wards across West Bengal and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  any  corrective  measures  have  been  taken  in  this  regard  or penalties  have  been  imposed  by  the  Union  Government  due  to  such mismanagement including fines or withholding of assistance and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)

- (a) to  (d)  :  Sanitation  is  a  State  subject  under  7th  schedule  of  the constitution  and  by  the  74th  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of India the devolution of power has been made to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for water and sanitation services. It is the responsibility of State/ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to plan, design, execute and operate sanitation projects in the urban areas of the country. Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) supplements the efforts of States/UTs by providing policy directions, financial and technical support by sharing Manuals/Standard of Procedures (SoPs) on Solid Waste Management  (SWM) & Used Water Management (UWM) and issue various Advisories & Guidelines time to time for choosing appropriate technologies to manage solid and liquid waste.

To  support  States/UTs  with  adequate  sanitation  and  solid  waste management systems Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban  (SBM-U)  on  October  2,  2014  with  the  objective  of  Open Defecation Free (ODF) cities and for scientific processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in all urban areas of the country including cities in West Bengal. To carry forward the progress made, 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 Garbage Free Status for all cities through 100% source segregation, door to door collection and scientific management of all fractions of waste.

MoHUA has been conducting an annual cleanliness survey - Swachh Survekshan since the year 2016, which has over the years played a key role in triggering positive competition amongst cities towards achieving the  objectives  of  the  Mission.  The  results  of  Swachh  Survekshan  are shared with all the States/UTs to analyse the performance of their cities and  improve  upon  the  areas  of  concern.  In  addition,  regular  capacity building  initiatives  for  the  stakeholders  at  State/ULB  levels  as  well  as dissemination  of  success  stories/best  practices  across  the  country assists in replication/upgradation of the waste processing methods.

State of West Bengal has been allocated an amount of Rs. 1449.30 crores under SBM-U 2.0. Out of the allocated funds, action plans having central share of Rs. 1438.24 crores have been approved and Rs. 217.65 crores have already been released to the State of West Bengal. Further, under Solid Waste Management component of SBM-U 2.0, action plans approved  for  remediation  of  1.18  lakh  ton  of  legacy  waste,  waste  to composting plants of 4871 tonnes per day (TPD), bio-methanation plants of  460  TPD,  Material  Recovery  Facilities  (MRFs)  of  4272  TPD,  Sanitary Landfill  (SLF)  of  2216  TPD,  Construction  &  Demolition  (C&D)  waste processing plants of 355 TPD alongwith 3 Mechanical Road sweepers with total central share of Rs. 577.88 crores. Details of all the projects under SBM-U reported by State of West Bengal are available at SBM-U, MoHUA portal https://sbmurban.org/swachh-bharat-mission-progess.

*****