Preparatory Workshop on Clean Himalayan Hill Cities Initiative

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban2.0 convened a Preparatory Workshop on the "Clean Himalayan Hill Cities Initiative" on 16 December 2025 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The initiative, announced at the National Urban Conclave 2025, aligns with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, and reflects MoHUA's commitment to development pathways that are resilient, inclusive, and ecologically sensitive.

The workshop was presided over by the Shri Srinivas Katikithala, Secretary, MoHUA and joined by the JS & NMD,SBM and other senior officials from MoHUA . The workshop had physical and online participation of 13 States and Union Territories across the Himalayan and North-Eastern regions and 5 ULBs of West Bengal. The workshop also brought together urban local bodies, technical agencies, academic institutions, civil society organisations, private sector partners, and global experts. It marked an important step in transitioning from intent to action by collectively identifying challenges, solutions, and collaboration pathways tailored to hill contexts.

The workshop was conceived as a strategic platform to deliberate on sanitation and solid waste management challenges specific to Himalayan and hill cities. These cities are characterised by fragile ecosystems, steep and difficult terrain, limited land availability, climatic extremes, dispersed settlements, and significant seasonal population fluctuations due to tourism and pilgrimage.

The workshop started with Inaugural Session with welcoming all participants by Director (SBM-Urban). Thereafter Joint Secretary and National Mission Director (SBM-Urban set the tone for the workshop by underscoring the need for customised and locally adapted approaches for sanitation and waste management in Himalayan and hill cities. The importance of peer learning, sharing of good practices, and alignment with SBM 2.0 and other national schemes was also emphasised during her inaugural remarks.

During the session, the following knowledge products were formally launched:

• Advisory on Onsite Sanitation for Colder Regions
• Advisory on Promoting Offtake of Treated Sewage Sludge
• Mountains of Change: Transforming Waste Management in Hilly Areas

Secretary, MoHUA in his key note address highlighted that hill cities face unique challenges such as high transportation costs, land constraints, vulnerability to natural disasters, and intense pressure from tourism. It was emphasised that solutions must be decentralised, innovative, and community-driven, with strong involvement from States and ULBs. He emphasised that the outcomes of the workshop will actively guide future strategies and interventions under the Clean Himalayan Hill Cities Initiative.

Session 1: Proven, Practical, Possible – What Works for Himalayan Cities

The session focused on sharing proven and scalable practices that have demonstrated success in Himalayan and hill city contexts. Practitioners and institutions presented field- based evidence demonstrating effective ground-level interventions.

The session focused on sharing proven and scalable practices that have demonstrated success in Himalayan and hill city contexts. Practitioners and institutions presented field- based evidence demonstrating effective ground-level interventions.

Key Speakers were:

• Shri Roshan Rai, Secretary, Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI), Dehradun
• Ms Sanchita Mitra, National Coordinator, SEWA Bharat
• Shri Snehit Prakash, Regional Director, BORDA South Asia
• Dr Mahreen Matto, Team Lead, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)

Representatives from the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) shared insights from the Himalayan Clean Up campaign, noting that a significant proportion of plastic waste in mountain regions is non-recyclable and linked to food and beverage packaging.

SEWA Bharat presented women-led waste management models from hill cities, demonstrating effective door-to-door collection, composting, and user-fee recovery. These models have contributed to improved cleanliness, livelihood generation, and enhanced municipal revenues.

Experiences from Leh were shared to illustrate that decentralised and hybrid sanitation and waste management systems are more suitable for high-altitude regions compared to large centralised systems. The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) presented the Parvat Manthan platform, which engages Himalayan States and UTs in research, capacity building, peer learning, and piloting of context-specific solutions.

Session 2: Drivers of Change

This session explored the motivations, community leadership, and behavioural change efforts driving successful interventions in hill and mountain regions. The session highlighted that protecting mountain ecosystems represents both a moral responsibility and a practical necessity.

Key Speakers were:

• Ms Priyadarshinee Shrestha, Core Member, Zero Waste Himalaya (Moderator)
• Mr Pradeep Sangwan, Founder, Healing Himalayas
• Mr Manoj Bainjwal, Community Leader, Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
• Ms Bijiyashanti Tongbram, Bishnupur District, Manipur
• Ms Sunita Kudle, Chairperson, KEEN Foundation, Uttarakhand
• Mr Bilal Ahmad, Panjath Nag Community, Jammu & Kashmir (Online)
• Ms Itticha Sharah, Director, Azure Lotus Foundation, Assam

Speakers shared experiences from high-altitude clean-up initiatives, community-led plastic- free pilgrimage models, and youth-driven waste management efforts around religious sites. These initiatives demonstrated that community participation, volunteerism, and local ownership can lead to sustained improvements in cleanliness and waste reduction. The session also highlighted the environmental pressures caused by unregulated tourism and stressed the need to align tourism practices with carrying capacity, enforce bans on single- use plastics, promote local consumption, and conserve water resources.

Overall, the session reinforced that community engagement, cultural integration, and local leadership are critical drivers of change in hill cities.

Session 3: Technology for Hill Cities

This session focused on technology-enabled and terrain-responsive solutions for solid waste management, used water management, sewage sludge reuse, and onsite sanitation in hill and cold-region cities.

Key Speakers:

• Mr J. B. Ravinder, Solid Waste Management Expert
• Mr Sanjay Raut, UWM Expert, TSU-RITES
• Dr Barjinder Bhalla, UWM Expert, TSU-RITES
• Dr V. K. Chaurasia, Advisor, CPHEEO

Experts highlighted that waste generation in hill cities is typically low in volume but highly dispersed, making decentralized systems more appropriate. Collection and transportation were identified as major operational challenges due to difficult terrain and limited access. Emphasis was centred on source segregation as the foundation for effective waste management.

Technological options discussed included decentralized composting, biogas plants, climate- controlled processing systems for cold regions, and MRF-cum-RDF approaches for dry waste. The role of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in managing plastic waste was highlighted, along with the need for 100 percent waste processing due to the infeasibility of sanitary landfills in hill areas.

Presentations on sewage sludge management highlighted solar greenhouse drying as a viable option for reducing moisture content, pathogens, and odour, thereby enabling safe reuse. Onsite sanitation options for cold regions were discussed, including dry sanitation systems, insulated treatment units, and decentralised anaerobic-aerobic systems adapted to low temperatures.

Session 4: Synergising Solutions - Collaboration for Clean Hill Cities

Key Speakers:

• Dr Teresa Kerber, Project Director, SUD-SC-II, GIZ
• Ms Shibani Chaudhary, Regional Head, Royal Enfield Social Mission
• Dr R. K. Srivastava, Professor and Head, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology
• Dr Sameer Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO, Swaaha Resource Management Pvt. Ltd.

The session emphasised the importance of partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration in addressing sanitation and waste management challenges in hill cities. The session highlighted that sustainable solutions require seamless convergence between government agencies, communities, civil society organisations, private sector entities, and development partners.

International and national partners shared experiences demonstrating that decentralised waste management, source segregation, and door-to-door collection are effective in space- constrained hill cities. Inclusive business models integrating women's groups and waste workers were highlighted as essential for long-term sustainability.

The session also stressed the importance of behaviour change, dignity of labour, cultural integration, and embedding sustainability principles from project inception. Community acceptance, political feasibility, financial viability, and regulatory compliance were identified as key success factors.

Session 5: Insights from Global Practices

Key Speakers:

• Prof Luca Andreassi, Policy Advisor, Anci Lazio, Italy
• Mr Oriol Vilaseca, Circular Economy Expert
• Ms Divya Kashyap Sharma, Deputy Head of International Cooperation, Swiss Cooperation Office India

Session 5 provided international perspectives on waste management and circular economy practices relevant to mountain cities. Experiences from Italy, Switzerland, and other regions highlighted strong similarities with Himalayan cities in terms of geography and tourism pressures.

Global experts emphasised decentralised waste treatment, community composting, micro- biogas plants, and reuse and repair practices as cost-effective and sustainable solutions. The importance of the polluter pays principle, strict enforcement, and long- term investments in waste infrastructure was highlighted. The session reinforced the need to move beyond recycling towards waste reduction at source and recognition of waste as a resource.

Session 6: Roadmap Ideation with States and Cities

Key Participants:

State and Union Territory representatives from Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh

Officials from MoHUA, SBM-Urban, NIUA, and technical support units

This session documented State-wise challenges and priorities related to solid waste and sanitation management. States highlighted issues such as high costs of legacy waste remediation, land acquisition constraints, limited bidder participation, capacity gaps, lack of recyclers, high transportation costs, and seasonal tourism pressures.

Several States emphasised the need for flexibility in planning, hill-specific standard operating procedures, capacity building, project management support, and adoption of decentralised technologies suited to low waste volumes and cold climates.

In the concluding session Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, MoHUA, highlighted that certain States have dedicated SBM funds for capacity building, which remain partially underutilised in several cases, particularly in the North Eastern region. States were advised to prepare structured capacity building plans, with support from the NIUA Knowledge Management Unit. It was informed that all master trainer and state-level trainings conducted by NIUA are funded by MoHUA.

The availability of a start-up gateway providing seed funding and incubation support was highlighted, along with existing model RFPs and MCAs for waste management infrastructure. It was clarified that SBM cost norms are indicative for determining central assistance and do not restrict market-discovered costs.

Further, Secretary, MoHUA, in his concluding remarks emphasized that existing norms are largely plains-centric and do not adequately reflect hill and Himalayan realities. He stressed the need for differentiated planning within and across States, focus on demand-side management, assessment of carrying capacity, and waste reduction at source, particularly in tourism-driven regions. Human resource constraints and the need for community engagement and locally adapted service delivery models were also highlighted.

The Secretary, MoHUA emphasised that sanitation, solid waste management, and environmental protection are collective responsibilities and reaffirmed continued institutional support as States move into the next phase of planning and implementation. States were advised to prepare action plan as per their local requirements and priorities which may be presented in next meeting of this forum. Based on the final plans, the same will be placed for roll- out and next steps under the guidance of the Hon’ble Union Minister, MoHUA.

At last, DS (SBM) expressed gratitude to the Secretary, MoHUA, and all participants for their contributions and reaffirmed the commitment to continue supporting States and cities in developing innovative, region-specific solutions. The session concluded with a call to action for all stakeholders to move forward with commitment, grounded in the realities of hill regions and guided by the spirit of the Swachh Bharat.