BHUBANESWAR: Eyeing to earn the ‘Open Defecation Free (ODF) ++’ tag for the Capital and improve its position in ‘Swachh Survekshan’ ranking next year, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has set time-bound targets.
It aims to complete construction of toilets in every household in the Capital this month.
The Corporation has also started working on setting up micro-composting centres, bio-mining of solid waste and proper disposal of faecal sludge in the city which are the other pre-requisites for getting the ‘ODF++’ tag.
Deputy Commissioner for Sanitation, BMC, Subhendu Sahu said currently 92 per cent of city’s population has access to household latrines while remaining eight per cent depends on community toilets built by the civic body. “Construction of household toilets for the remaining population in the city under Individual Household Latrine Scheme (IHLS) is expected to be completed by October 15. Once the target is achieved, we will seek ‘ODF++’ tag under Swachh Bharat Mission,” Sahu said.
The ‘ODF++’ recognition will help Bhubaneswar get additional marks in ‘Swachh Survekshan’ and improve its position among other cities in terms of cleanliness in ‘Swachh Survekshan 2020’ ranking next year.
Bhubaneswar which was ranked 24th and figured in the ‘Aspiring Leader’ in 2016 slipped to 94th position in 2017 in ‘Swachh Survekshan’ ranking. It plunged further to 245 rank in 2018 and 288 in 2019. Open defecation and absence of solid waste management facility were two major reasons behind the decline in rankings.
Sahu said though BMC, in a self-declaration event last year, had announced Bhubaneswar ODF and subsequently met criteria for ‘ODF+’ tag, it failed to apply for the same to the Centre under Swachh Bharat Mission.
The Capital now meets all criteria to get ODF++ tag and we will apply for it after October 15, Sahu said and added that a meeting in this regard has been scheduled for October 14.