New Delhi: The city of Hyderabad gets a new identity– it has been declared open defecation free (ODF) by its civic body on Wednesday after all its corporators gave an undertaking that their respective wards are now free from open defecation. With the guidance of Telangana’s municipal administration and urban development minister KT Rama Rao, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) took various initiatives to control open defecation in the city. From ‘She-eToilets’ (electronic toilets only for women) to installing polling machines in 50 public toilets in order to improve basic sanitation and hygiene, the civic body did their best to achieve the tag of ODF. A statement released by the civic body announcing Hyderabad ODF said,
The corporators of all 150 wards have given an undertaking that their wards are open defecation free and requested (the civic body) to declare so.
#Hyderabad city has become Open-Defecation Free, its civic body says @SwachhBharatGov
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 16, 2017
The Road To Success
The civic body has provided 1975 individual household toilets and 384 public and community toilets to achieve the title of ODF. Forty four public toilets and 25 She e-toilets are under construction in different parts of the city. The GHMC also convinced about 295 fuel stations and 390 Hotels/restaurant owners to open their toilets for general public use, the GHMC officials have also put signage boards to indicate the access of toilet to public.
Moreover the civic body is constructing toilets in the city wherever possible and also taking steps to maintain it well.
What’s More
Open Defecation status aside, the GHMC has also come up with several solutions to deal with city’s waste woes effectively. From distributing colour coded dustbins to residential societies to conducting awareness camps to popularise waste segregation as a concept among people, the civic body has done it all. More than 100 waste awareness camps have been organised by the GHMC in 2017 alone. In a laudable move to put an end to manual scavenging in the city, the GHMC in collaboration with the state government of Telangana has also introduced 70 sewer jetting machines that can clean clogged sewage lines without people having to go down into them.
Also Read: The Example To Follow: Hyderabad Civic Body’s All Round Performance On Waste Management
Hyderabad city and its civic body through their work have set an example for other metro cities. If the footsteps of Hyderabad are followed by other cities in the right direction, India can fulfill its dream of becoming a green and open defecation free country by 2019.
With inputs from PTI
Ananth
August 19, 2017 at 11:04 am
Few more days and govt will also declare that metro is complete and the trains have started.
Open defaction still exists in many parts of Hyderabad. Govt might be taking a lot of steps to prevent it. Though I have seen many people passing urine in open beside garbage cans on road.
Most of toilets placed on roads seriously lack hygiene and one can smell the bad odour to the other side of the road.
Dr Gattu
August 19, 2017 at 11:23 am
Excellent job done by TRS govt. this is correct time to start penalising for open defaecation
Neelima
August 19, 2017 at 11:36 am
It’s all nonsense so called hitech city Madhapur surrounding areas are dumped with waste on the roads and many people doing urinals road side .
Santosh Kumar Kar
August 19, 2017 at 11:42 am
Can you please ban plastic bags strictly in Hyderabad and other areas too in India?
Ram Kiran
August 19, 2017 at 5:27 pm
I bring to your notice that, in place around Kazaguda lake near gachibowli, hyderabad, people are still using it for open defecation. It is one of the most beautiful lake in hyderabad surrounded by a hillock and visited by variety of birds. It’s very near to the IT sector of hyderabad. The cleanliness around the lake is spoiled by open defecation every day. We can’t walk near the lake due to this. The GHMC authorities should improve this area. And it can be promoted for tourism .
Tanveer Ahmed
August 22, 2017 at 5:12 pm
Good to read but there still exist open defecation in Hyderabad. There is one more massive campaign needed to be launched in India and that is GreenIndia. Every corporator must be instructed to make his/her area as green as possible. There are no enough trees in many cities of India, each year there is a deficiency in rainfall compared to previous year. If the rainfall is excess we don’t have enough trees to hold them and stop flooding. I request everyone to educate your children to love the nature, preserve it and nourish it for our next generation.