BENGALURU: Officially, Bengaluru is open defecation free (ODF) now. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike made the annoucement on Friday based on a certificate awarded by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The announcement came days before the commencement of Swachh Survekshana Survey-2020 on visual cleanliness and garbage management.
BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar said it is a “huge achievement” and the ODF tag will help the city get 100 points in the survey. BBMP’s aim now is to achieve garbage-free status too, he said.
BBMP Special Commissioner (solid waste management) D Randeep told TNIE that the city has been declared ODF, based on the figures provided by the civic body. The BBMP submitted to the ministry that there are 420 toilets in the city and most of them meet the seven parameters like water, wash basins and caretakers stationed there.
He said MoHUA sent a third party team for inspection, which randomly inspected a few toilets in September. “The result has been announced based on its report”, he said.The MoHUA is satisfied with the reports on the construction of individual household latrines (IHHL). The BBMP told MoHUA that toilets have been constructed in 99 per cent of households. The threshold is 90 per cent.
The BBMP also told MoHUA that 419 regular public toilets and 162 e-toilets can be found on Google Maps, but admitted that around 30 of them are defunct. About 60 more toilets will be constructed immediately and more will follow based on the availability of funds, it said. The officials also clarified that open urination is not considered in the ODF ranking. BBMP told MoHUA that it is a major problem in the city and they are working on building more toilets in places frequented by people.