The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) has approved Rs 235 Crores to Andhra Pradesh under the ‘Garbage Free Cities’ vision, an official statement said. The Centre’s share in these proposals will be Rs 77.66 Crores. The ministry said legacy dumpsites pose a significant threat to the environment and contribute to air and water pollution. It is also said that clearing these mountains of years-old waste is essential not just to transform the country’s urban landscape but also to address the issue of public health and environmental concerns.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 was launched by PM Narendra Modi last year to create ‘Garbage Free Cities’ by the year 2026. According to the ministry, one of the mission’s main goals is ‘Lakshya Zero’ dumpsite to remediate 16 Crores metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste dumpsites occupying nearly 15,000 acres of city land. “The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved the proposal of Rs 77.66 Crores submitted by Andhra Pradesh for remediation of over 42 lakh MT of waste in 28 urban local bodies,” the statement added.