Shocking Delay in City Cleanup! Only 18% of Underground Sewage Projects Completed in 5 Years Under AMRUT 2.0

A parliamentary panel report presented in the Lok Sabha has revealed slow progress in India's urban development, showing that only 104 out of 594 approved sewerage projects - just 17.51%-have been completed under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme over the last five years. According to the Parliamentary Panel Report on AMRUT Progress, chaired by MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, 398 projects remain stuck under construction while 38 projects worth over ₹7,500 crore are stalled at the initial tender stage. Even worse, out of the planned 6,815 million litres per day of sewage treatment capacity, less than 10% is currently operational, leaving vast amounts of untreated wastewater polluting urban environments.

The report highlights that out of 11.32 crore urban households across the country, only about 30% have direct underground sewer connections, while 42% still depend on septic tanks. States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal rely heavily on septage systems instead of piped networks, and only 27,418 km of sewer lines have been laid out of the sanctioned 59,261 km. A major cause behind this lag is funding delays, as the central government has released only ₹22,762 crore out of the committed ₹66,059 crore assistance.

Ministry officials pointed to land acquisition hassles, slow tendering, contractor delays, and limited technical skills in local municipal bodies as the main reasons behind the slow work. To fix this crisis before the mission's extended deadline of March 31, 2027, the parliamentary committee has urged immediate fund releases, real-time tracking databases, a total ban on manual sewer cleaning, and strict policies to recycle treated wastewater for non-drinking uses.