Five more states have ODF cities and towns

Oct 03,2017

Five more states have ODF cities and towns

By Punemirror Desk Tue, 3 Oct 2017

Five more states — Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana — have been able to make all their urban areas ‘open-defecation free’ (ODF), Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri claimed on Monday.

With these BJP-ruled states achieving the feat, around 36 per cent or 1,472 cities and towns of the total 4,041 have so far become ODF in the country.

Urban areas of seven states and a Union territory have been announced open-defecation free so far. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh had become ODF last year, an official said.

Addressing a programme on the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Puri said about 38 lakh household toilets in urban areas have already been built against a target of 66 lakh, and another 14 lakh toilets are under construction. eas, Puri said.

Stating that sanitation is a “birth right” and “individual responsibility”, he claimed that the fortnightlong Swacchata-Hi-Sewa campaign, which concluded on Monday, has witnessed participation from “over 80 lakh people spread over 3.50 lakh activities in urban areas”.

The minister also stressed on the need for “life-style change” to realise the objective of the mission.