Kerala to be first open defecation free state by November 2016

Kerala to be first open defecation free state by November 2016 : Kerala state is preparing to be declared as the first ‘open defecation-free’ in India. Kerala is the most populous states in India. The completion of 1.90 lakh toilets in its 941 village panchayats will be done by this November.

The toilets are being constructed across the state, including in individual houses, hilly terrains and located at critically challenged as part of the sanitation programme by the state government.

The state nodal agency for sanitation, Suchitwa Mission is implementing the plan. The total outlay of Suchitwa Mission is Rs 308 crore.

Executive Director of Suchitwa Mission, K Vasuki said that it was a challenging and tough task to implement the open defecation-free (ODF) programme in a state like Kerala. This state is one of the most populous ones in the country having different geographical terrain ranging from hillocks to coastal regions.

Vasuki told PTI that though it was a tough and challenging task, we are confident and committed that the state would achieve the new milestone by this November.

She said that our target is to construct around 1.90 lakh toilets across the 941 Gram panchayats in the state Kerala. The construction of 35% of toilets has already been completed and work of nearly 70,000 is under construction.

She said that nearly 50 Gram panchayats have already self-declared as ‘OFD civic bodies.

She stated that Suchitwa mission was getting full support from the CPI(M)-led LDF government in the state Kerala. She also said that the Kerala Government took a strong commitment to complete several initiatives under the programme on a war-footing.

She said that orders were issued that there should not be any financial restrictions for the project. She added that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was monitoring the progress of the scheme every week.

She said that firstly, the Kerala Government will declare Kerala as open defecation-free on November 1. Later, a team of the central government will visit the state and endorse the declaration after making mandatory inspections in this regard.