New Delhi: “In some delightful news that resonates the success of Swachh Bharat Government, Nagaland, Karnataka, Kerala & Puducherry have been declared Open Defecation Free. Congratulations to people of these states and Union Territories who have transformed Swachh Bharat Mission into a Jan Andolan and made this achievement possible,” said Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri as he shared the news on social media with the netizens.
In some delightful news that resonates the success of @SwachhBharatGov, Nagaland, Karnataka, Kerala & Puducherry have been declared Open Defecation Free.
Congratulations to people of these states & UT who have transformed SBM into a Jan Andolan & made this achievement possible. pic.twitter.com/44YZnoqqm6— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) December 1, 2018
Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Durga Shanker Mishra too congratulated the people of the state and union territories and added,
The stupendous success of Swachh Bharat Government is transforming urban spaces. With Nagaland, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry achieving the ODF tag, now 23 States/UTs are fully ODF. My heartiest congratulations to the citizens and States/UTs.
Stupendous success of @SwachhBharatGov is transforming urban spaces clean as people's movement.
With Nagaland, Kerala, Karnataka & Puducherry being declared as 100%ODF in urban areas, 23 States/UTs are fully ODF now. My heartiest congratulations to the citizens & States/UTs. pic.twitter.com/YBO7eUcd8r
— Durga Shanker Mishra (@Secretary_MoHUA) December 1, 2018
Also Read: With 60.50 Lakh Toilets Built, Urban India Is Confident About Going ODF Before October 2019
Both Kerala and Karnataka urban parts were lagging behind in achieving the ODF targets. The south Indian state – Kerala missed its ODF deadline twice, onCe in October 2017 when more than toilet construction, Kerala was focusing on achieving the overall ODF sustainability status and effective waste management chain and then again in October 2018 due to the fierce floods in the beginning of the month of August that are said to be the worst in the last 100 years. But, in a few months’ time, Kerala got back on track and achieved its ODF deadline. Today, more than 2.5 lakh individual toilets and 17 thousand community toilets have been constructed in the state, with 77 urban local bodies achieving the ODF Tag.
On the other hand, Karnataka had a target of declaring small and medium cities ODF by October 2, 2017, and another 100 urban local bodies (ULBs) ODF by December 2017, but sadly none of the deadlines were met on time. After, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy declared the state’s rural areas free from open defecation on this Toilet Day (November 19).
With the help of continuous efforts from people of Karnataka and authorities, today, around 2 lakh individual toilets and 6 thousand community toilets have been constructed in the state, thereby making Urban Karnataka free from open defecation.
Story of Puducherry was no different, after missing two deadlines of becoming an open defecation free Union Territory, Puducherry on October 2, 2018 finally met its Swachh goals. Lieutenant Governor, Kiran Bedi declared Puducherry free from the age-old tradition of open defecation, as the Union Territory achieved the target of constructing 3 thousand individual toilets and 270 community toilets in the UT.
Puducherry was officially declared Open Defecation Free today at a solemn function held at Kamban Kalai Arangam. pic.twitter.com/HM3REfxzOf
— Lt. Gov. Puducherry (@LGov_Puducherry) October 2, 2018
While in Nagaland, from 285 individual toilets in urban areas to now 2,972 ones, the urban areas have shown a successful speed in fulfilling ODF targets in last one year.
Speaking to NDTV, a senior official from the urban ministry said,
Now the target for these states and Union Territories is to focus on sustaining the much awaited ODF tag. Along with that, door-to-door waste collection system, scientific processing and disposal of waste will be focused so that by October 2, 2019 under Swachh Bharat Mission, these 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.
