Puducherry Achieves Swachh Goal, Declared Open Defecation Free

New Delhi: “Historical day for Puducherry, because of the relentless efforts of the people, the Union Territory has achieved the open defecation free (ODF) status today,” says Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi as she declared Union Territory ODF at a function held at Kamban Kalai Arangam. Until today, Puducherry was the only Union Territory that was lagging behind in achieving Swachh Bharat Mission targets, it had missed its initial deadline of going open defecation free by October 2, 2017 and the overall deadline for UTs of March 2018.

Sharing the ODF news with netizens, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi on her social media shared few glimpses of open defecation free ceremony in Puducherry and added, “Puducherry has officially become Open Defecation Free today at a solemn function held at Kamban Kalai Arangam.”

Also Read: Lack Of Toilets, Failure To Encourage Community Toilets A Threat To Children’s Health: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi

Later, joining NDTV-Dettol Banega Swachh India 12-Hour Cleanathon, Kiran Bedi said,

We have fixed the sanitation problem in Puducherry. All our 97 villages have toilets now. We will fine tune the facilities in the next three months. Women are the biggest beneficiaries of this initiative. We have been successful in giving them toilets and bathing area. Today they have got their privacy back.

Talking about the learnings from Puducherry open defecation free journey, Kiran Bedi added,

Work on attitude, work on education because attitude and resources go hand in hand in making a region successfully open defecation free.

Watch Kiran Bedi’s Full Message

As per the data shared by T. Sudhakar, Commissioner, Pondicherry Municipality, 935 individual household toilets and 57 community toilets have been constructed in the urban parts of the Union Territory, while in rural areas construction of 27,965 household toilets have been successfully done.

Now, the focus for the Union Territory is on sustaining the ODF tag and door-to-door waste collection system along with scientific processing and disposal of waste so that by October 2019 under Swachh Bharat Mission the region can also successfully achieve the status of ODF Plus and ODF Plus Plus.

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.