As he launched the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the goal this time round is to make cities completely free of garbage and water secure.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said in 2014, the countrymen took a pledge to make India open defecation free (ODF) and they fulfilled this pledge with the construction of more than 10 crore toilets. Now the goal of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0’ is to make the cities garbage free, completely free of garbage, he said.

The Prime Minister underlined the scope of the country’s target in the next phase of Mission AMRUT as ‘improving sewage and septic management, making our cities water safe cities and ensuring that no sewage drains anywhere in our rivers’.

“The garbage mountains in cities will be processed and removed completely as part of Swachta second phase. One such garbage mountain has been in Delhi (in Ghazipur) for long, it’s also waiting to be removed,” he said.

“Today India is processing about 1 lakh tonnes of waste every day. When we started the campaign in 2014, less than 20% of the waste was being processed. Today we are processing about 70% of daily waste. Now we have to take it to 100%,” he said.

Lauding the younger generation, he pointed out toffee wrappers are no more thrown on floors but kept in pockets. “Kids alert elders not to litter around.

The youth are taking initiative. Some are earning wealth from waste, while some are creating awareness.