All the 1,137 statutory cities and towns in six States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Telangana are set to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2 this year marking the completion of three years of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). This is based on the regular reports being received from States/UTs.
Total 1,418 cities and towns would become ODF by this October, two years ahead of the mission deadline of October 2, 2019. These nine States account for 39% of the total 4,041 mission cities.
This was revealed during the review of progress of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) by Shri D.S. Mishra, Secretary (Urban Development).
The number of mission cities in Maharashtra is 384, followed by Madhya Pradesh (378), Chattisgarh (168), Kerala (93), Telangana (73) and Jharkhand (41).
Gujarat had already declared all 170 cities and towns ODF while Andhra Pradesh had done so in 110. Chandigarh is the only UT to have become ODF.
The six states set to become ODF in urban areas have a total target of construction of 22, 44,003 Individual Household while Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh have constructed 9, 51,177 such toilets. These nine States/UT account for a total of 31, 95,180 toilets which comes to 49% of the total mission target of construction of 65, 82, 451 toilets.
In Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Sikkim, the toilets constructed so far and under construction comes to 100% of mission target, followed by Uttarakhand-92%, Maharashtra-91%, Puducherry, Chattisgarh-89%, Tamil Nadu-85%, Telangana-81%, Kerala-77%, Karnataka-74%, Punjab-68%, Andaman & Nicobar Islands-67%, Bihar-63%, Rajasthan-61%, Uttar Pradesh-49% and Haryana-46%.
Shri Mishra asked the concerned officials to pursue with the States/UTs lagging behind which include Goa, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern States and UTs for speeding up construction of toilets which are necessary for becoming ODF. He also stressed on the need to focus attention on Solid Waste Management projects to ensure total processing of municipal solid waste by October, 2019.
