GVMC declares Visakhapatnam as ‘Water Plus’ city

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), on Wednesday, declared Visakhapatnam as ‘Water Plus’ city, claiming that no untreated wastewater is discharged into the environment in the city.

The Water Plus is an initiative launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), to achieve safe sustainable sanitation for all, by ensuring that no untreated wastewater is discharged into the open environment.  According to MoHUA,  a city/ward/circle/zone can be declared as Water Plus provided all wastewater released from households, commercial establishments, drains, nallahs, etc. is treated to a satisfactory level (as per CPCB norms), before releasing the treated wastewater to the environment. Further, the adequate capacity of wastewater and sewage treatment facilities is to be ensured. The infrastructure should be maintained properly and cost recovery is ensured through reuse/recycling of treated wastewater to ensure sustainability.

The GVMC said that as per the guidelines of Water Plus 2021, the wastewater from households, commercial establishments, drains, nallah, etc, under the purview of the Corporation, was treated to a satisfactory level (as per CPCB norms) being discharged into the environment. It further stated that the infrastructure being used to retreat the water in Visakhapatnam is maintained properly and the treated wastewater is recycled and reused, thereby achieving the goals defined by the Water Plus initiative.

Making a resolution for the same on 8 December, the civic body said that the public can raise objections or submit feedback regarding the same to the GVMC Commissioner via written form or electronic mail, within 15 days.

Once a city has communicated to the respective state government the final resolution declaring the city to be SBM Water Plus, and the state government has communicated the same to MoHUA (or in case of development authority or cantonment board, city has directly communicated to MoHUA), a third-party verification process (“Swachh Certification for SBM Water Plus”) is to be adopted, for the final SBM Water Plus certification.