Mumbai to spend 250% more on SWM this year

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced an increase of 250 percent in its expenditure on solid waste management, as part of its ambitious ‘SWM vision 2030’ campaign. The campaign aims to create a favourable atmosphere for a decentralised waste management system.

BMC allocated Rs 4,531 crore for Solid Waste Management (SWM) in its budget for 2022-23, which is approximately 10% of the overall budget of Rs 45,949 crore. This year’s capital expenditure proposal is Rs 1,460 crore, approximately 250 percent more than previous year’s allocation. The SWM department has gotten the second-highest funding allocation, after the public health department.

The BMC has set a goal of reducing annual waste creation by 30%.

The budget provision also includes the procurement of electric vehicles for waste collection. These vehicles will have a payload of 600 kg each and each of it will be equipped with dedicated compartments for transportation of segregated waste.

The civic body also plans to set up ward-level Electronic Waste Collection and Recovery Centres (EWCRC) and has made a provision of Rs 24 crore (Rs 1 crore each for all the 24 municipal wards) for setting up these centres.