New Delhi: Chairing the Pragati meeting on Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi asked officials of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to identify the first 50 cities and achieve 100% sanitation in all aspects from making them garbage free to processing all their solid and liquid waste.TOI has learned that Modi suggested that the ministry and state governments collaborate to set an example by continuing their efforts to make cities clean. The Ministry gave a detailed presentation on the progress of Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0.In an official statement, the PMO said Modi stressed the need for effective implementation of the mission and underlined that it should go beyond creation of infrastructure and ensure measurable results through regular monitoring, citizen participation and convergence among various stakeholders.While reviewing the progress of railway projects, Modi expressed unhappiness over the delay in their implementation and release of compensation due to issues being identified at a later stage, officials said. An official said, “The PM asked why responsibility should not be fixed in such cases as any avoidable cause had delayed the project implementation, resulting in cost overruns and time overruns.”Reviewing a road and port connectivity project for Wadhawan Port in Maharashtra, the Prime Minister said it should be executed as a model of port-led, multi-modal development, where every major mode of transport should be seamlessly integrated to create a future-ready logistics ecosystem. “He suggested the shipping ministry to transport material for the development of a greenfield port instead of waiting for the completion of road connectivity,” another official said.Reviewing a power sector project, Modi stressed the need to accelerate the adoption of rooftop solar energy in urban areas, especially residential clusters and public institutions. “He underlined that rooftop solar energy should be taken up in mission mode to reduce power costs, improve energy security and promote clean energy at household and community level,” the PMO said.The Prime Minister also stressed on innovative use of the canal network including installation of solar panels along canals and canals for clean power generation. “This will help optimize land use, reduce evaporation losses, generate renewable energy and create additional economic value from water infrastructure,” the government said.
