In a bid to give push to the Government’s flagship Swachch Bharat Mission(SBM) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Parliamentary constituency Varanasi, the Centre, Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) joined hands on Thursday to implement a project for solid waste collection and transportation in 14 model wards of the holy city.
As per the tripartite agreement, the PFC will contribute towards the efforts of VNN which will carry out mechanized and automatised job involving sweeping, collection and transportation of solid waste on pilot basis initially for 3 years.
The Union Urban Development Ministry will provide technical and financial support to the project, said Praveen Prakash, joint Secretary, UD Ministry and Mission Director, SBM here.
Varanasi generates an average of 650 metric tonnes of municipal waste on a daily basis. Varanasi Nagar Nigam has identified 14 different wards along the ghats of river Ganga, with a population of about 1.1 lakh to act as a model of improvement for the rest of city and implement the 3 year long pilot project.
Prakash said, “Solid waste management is an important component of SBM. The holy city is popular amongst tourists and has a lot of footfall, making it even more difficult yet important for VNN to maintain hygiene and cleanliness.”