THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has been accorded the Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus status by the Centre for making all the villages meet the parameters prescribed by the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The state gained the coveted status as all its villages have been equipped with modern facilities for sanitation and waste disposal as per the parameters set by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. Apart from Kerala, southern states Karnataka and Telangana have also received the ODF Plus status.
The criteria for declaring a village as ODF Plus include its sustained ODF status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. The efforts by all villages and gram panchayats in meeting the yardsticks in this regard helped Kerala attain the status.
Grama panchayats have implemented projects for source-level management of biodegradable waste, collection of biodegradable waste by Haritha Karma Sena, construction of community and household toilets, installation of public disposal facilities for biodegradable waste, liquid waste disposal facilities and informative campaigns. Among 1,509 villages in the state, 491 received the status in the ‘Aspiring’ category, while 48 secured spots in the ‘Rising’ category.