"Parliamentary report flags urban sewerage connection gap under AMRUT scheme"
AMRUT
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation; centrally sponsored urban infrastructure scheme targeting water supply and sewerage in cities.
Sewerage connectivity
physical pipe connection linking an individual household's waste outlet to a municipal underground sewer network.
Urban sanitation in India has been a persistent governance challenge, rooted in decades of underinvestment in underground drainage infrastructure and the rapid, often unplanned expansion of cities. The constitutional framework for urban governance was significantly restructured by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which mandated the creation of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and listed urban sanitation — including regulation of slaughterhouses and tanneries, public health, and sanitation — under the Twelfth Schedule as a function to be devolved to municipalities. However, as with rural local bodies, most state governments have been reluctant to transfer adequate funds, functions, and functionaries to ULBs, leaving them dependent on centrally sponsored schemes for capital investment in core infrastructure.
The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), launched in 2015, was India's flagship urban infrastructure programme targeting 500 cities with a combined population exceeding one lakh. Its successor, AMRUT 2.0, was launched subsequently with an expanded mandate covering all statutory towns and a specific focus on water supply and sewerage. The scheme's stated goal was to provide every household in covered cities with a tap water connection and a sewerage or septage connection — making it the primary policy instrument for closing India's urban sanitation infrastructure gap. AMRUT operates as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, with funding shared between the Centre, states, and ULBs, and implementation responsibility resting with state governments and their urban development departments.
Sewerage connectivity — the physical connection of individual households to an underground sewer network — is distinct from open defecation free (ODF) status or toilet construction. A household may have a toilet but discharge waste into a septic tank, open drain, or water body rather than a treated sewerage system. The absence of sewerage connectivity therefore represents a critical gap in the sanitation chain: even where toilets exist, untreated sewage enters urban water bodies, groundwater, and drains, creating public health hazards and environmental degradation. This distinction is central to understanding why India's urban sanitation outcomes lag behind its toilet-construction metrics.
AMRUT's sewerage component involves two linked investments: laying trunk sewer lines and lateral connections at the city level, and ensuring the last-mile connection from the sewer network to individual households. The latter is often the most difficult and expensive step, requiring coordination between ULBs, individual property owners, and state public health engineering departments. …
Consider the following statements:
1.'Right to the City' is an agreed human right and in this regard, UN-Habitat (United Nations Habitat) monitors the commitments made by each country.
2.'Right to the City' gives every resident of the city the right to reclaim public spaces in the city and public participation.
3.'Right to the City' means that the State cannot deny any citizen of any public service or facility from unauthorized colonies (bastis) of the city.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Local self-government can be best explained as an exercise in
The fundamental object of Panchayati Raj system is to ensure which among the following?
1.People's participation in development
2.Political accountability
3.Democratic decentralization
4.Financial mobilization
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
With reference to the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), consider the following statements:
1.AMRUT was launched in 2015 targeting 500 cities with a population of one lakh or more.
2.The nodal ministry for AMRUT is the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
3.AMRUT 2.0 expanded coverage to all statutory towns in India.
4.The scheme is funded entirely by the Central Government with no state or ULB contribution.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
The Twelfth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, relates to which of the following?
Consider the following statements regarding Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in India:
1.The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 gave constitutional status to ULBs for the first time.
2.The Twelfth Schedule lists 18 functions that must mandatorily be transferred to all ULBs by state governments.
3.State Finance Commissions are constitutionally required to review the financial position of ULBs and recommend devolution of funds.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Assertion (A): India's urban sanitation outcomes, measured by sewerage connectivity, lag significantly behind its toilet-construction metrics.
Reason (R): Open defecation free (ODF) status and sewerage connectivity measure the same dimension of sanitation infrastructure.
Which of the following is correct?
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