Aafrin Kidwai 
The two-day Swachh Shehar Samvad and Tech Exhibition organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on the 29th and 30th of September 2022, as part of the fortnight long Swachh Amrit Mahotsav, concluded last evening. The Samvad and Tech Exhibition, a capacity-building initiative by MoHUA, witnessed a vibrant gathering of policymakers, representatives from states and cities, industry, technology providers, academia, R&D institutions, NGOs, and sector partners to exchange learning, expertise, and best practices and to deliberate on strategies and action plans to accelerate their progress towards Garbage free status. The event was inaugurated on 29th Sept 2022 by Union Minister for Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.
Over 1000 delegates participated in the mega event that also included technology and experiential exhibitions on state-of-the-art waste management products, solutions and other offerings from a host of technology providers and companies. The Samvad hosted 45 resource persons/speakers from 17 States, 18 cities, and 10 experts from industry, private sector, academia, NGOs, and sector partners who brought to the forum experiences and learnings from across India. Multi-pronged interventions driven by states and cities were highlighted. Focused sessions curated around experiences and lessons for legacy dumpsite remediation, collection and transportation of waste, dry waste management, wet waste management, and used water management and city-specific experiences in waste management governance inspired the delegates and led to lively discussions and deliberations.
The Tech Exhibition evoked much interest among the States and Cities and was well attended. Around 35 technology providers demonstrated various products and solutions in recycling, upcycling of dry waste of all kinds, remediation technologies, IT-enabled applications, technologies in used water management, portable units for waste processing etc.. Delegates also visited the thematic experiential exhibitions on mission initiatives inclusive of Garbage Free Cities, aspirational toilets, used water management etc. The Exhibition also featured a virtual library of practical resource guides on all aspects of waste management.
Further, during the Samvad various knowledge products and guidelines were released by the MoHUA on home composting, organic waste management, legacy dumpsite remediation, and used water management in small and medium towns. The SBM Urban Mission will follow these up with further capacity development interventions to enable ULBs to effectively apply these knowledge products
The sessions and the exhibitions provided exposure to ULBs, especially from the small and medium towns on the various technology options available in sanitation and waste management and the opportunity to engage with their counterparts in other cities and with industry and private sector as well.
Minister of State Kaushal Kishore felicitated the top 70 cities chosen from across 8 different population categories of the Indian Swachhata League (ISL), an inter-city youth-led competition for Garbage Free Cities.
The Samvad is a prelude to the grand finale on 1st October 2022 when the much-anticipated Azadi@75 Swachh Survekshan Awards will be announced. President of India Ms Droupadi Murmu will grace the occasion and felicitate the top performing cities and states under various categories of the Swachh Survekshan Awards.
Disclaimer: This article is taken from a press release issued by PIB.
