Bengal takes up 10 solid waste management projects

West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government has taken up 10 integrated solid waste management projects for 14 urban local bodies, at a cost of Rs 421.69 crore, under Mission Nirmal Bangla, an official release said on Monday.

The urban local bodies are in Kolkata, Dum Dum, North and South Dum Dum, Baranagar, Bhatpara, Naihati, Ashoknagar-Kalyangarh and Habra, Asansol, Krishnanagar, Santipur, Nabadwip and Jalpaiguri.

"Tender process of these projects have been initiated and all the ULBs have been instructed to create massive awareness...," the release said.

Under the mission, four districts - Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly and East Midnapore and its 55 urban local bodies - achieved open defecation free status by completing the construction of more than one lakh individual household latrine.

The government said that another 21 urban local bodies of Burdwan, South 24 Parganas and Coochbehar districts aim to construct more than 1.5 lakh household latrines to achieve open defecation free status by March 2017.

The state government has provided Rs 452.17 lakh to all the 125 urban local bodies for public awareness generation and spaying larvicide oil to prevent vector borne diseases like malaria, dengue etc.

The government said this year, Rs 2,400 crore plan fund has already been spent by urban local bodies and Rs 695 crore has already been released to them from the from Finance Commission.

--IANS

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