The AMRUT Plan was launched by our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in June 2015 under the Indian Government. It is broadly known as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Plan (AMRUT Plan) and is an initiative to provide basic services in urban areas to improve the quality of life of the underprivileged and the poor.
Purpose
The main objective of this scheme is to:
- To make sure that every household gets a proper supply of water and a good sewage connection.
- To further improve the well-maintained open spaces and parks to amplify the amenity price of the cities.
- To reduce pollution by making more use of public transport or through the development of non-motorized transport facilities (like cycling, walking, electric cars, etc.)
- Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and concrete Transformation (AMRUT) aims in covering around five hundred cities that are having a population of over one hundred thousand with notified municipalities.
Major Components
The AMRUT Plan consists of various major components for proper planning. They are:
- Development of the urban transportation system – Multi-level parking to use up maximum space and switching to walking on footpaths, cycling.
- Water Supply – This includes the expansion of the existing supply of water and the water treatment plants and universal metering.
- Development of green areas in the city and parks – Green spaces in the city shall be developed for older people and for the children to play around.
- Sewerage and stormwater drainage – Betterment of existing sewage systems and sewage treatment plants along with recycling of wastewater.
Application for AMRUT Scheme
For the cities and towns to fall under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Plan, they need to fall under the categories mentioned below:-
- The city or town must have a minimum population of one lakh with civilian areas in it and some notified municipalities as well
- The cities and towns that have been classified by the Housing and Urban Affairs under the HRIDAY Scheme as Heritage cities.
- Thirteen cities and towns fall on the stem of the main rivers and have a population of more than 75,000 but less than 1 lakh.
- Ten cities belonging from the hill states, islands, and tourist destinations. Only one city from each of these states can be selected under the AMRUT program.
Recent Developments under the AMRUT Plan
The Mission came into action on June 25, 2015, with approximate finance of Rs.1 lakh crore allotted for the improvement of this scheme. Out of that one lakh crore rupees, the State action plans a sum of Rs. 77,640 crores for basic infrastructure initiatives have been approved, towards which initiatives worth Rs. 79,772 crores were grounded. As of June 2021, works worth Rs. 52,477 crores (66%) have been carried out.
Based on the data released by the MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) in June 2021, the following progressions have been made under this scheme:
- Sewage Treatment Plants that have a capacity worth 1,240 MLD have been created, of which 907 MLD is being reused and recycled. Another 4,800 MLD STP capacity is under development.
- Energy audits of water pumps have been completed in 396 cities in 27 States.
- 11,385 water pumps are identified for replacement, of which 667 pumps have been replaced already.