VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said his government has set a target to make the state open defecation free by 2016.
"Under the phase-1 of the Swachh Andhra Pradesh program, make AP open defecation-free by Janaury 2016," Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said in a meeting with Municipal Commissioners.
Noting that all towns are strewn with litter, Naidu said sweeping and cleaning of all public places should happen before midnight, according to a state government release.
He instructed officials to form a Committee by involving Jack Sim, the founder of World Toilet Organisation, and look at ways to achieve targets.
Currently, 59,000 toilets have been built in the state against the total sanctioned 1.14 lakh toilets.
The state government had set October 2, 2015 as deadline for completion.
"I will make surprise visits to all municipalities," Naidu said.
He reprimanded the commissioners for failing to educate public on the need to have toilets.
"Work on war-footing basis and complete them by January 1, 2016."
Seeking suggestions from municipal commissioners on best waste management practices in India, he directed all municipalities to set certain norms for every village or town in the state in order to declare them as litter-free and open defecation-free.
Questioning officials on why towns and cities in Andhra Pradesh could not make it to the top 100 of the Centre's Swachh Bharat rankings.
Naidu said the Swacch Andhra Pradesh Corporation should operate with freedom like a private organisation to achieve the ambitious targets.
He said all municipal commissioners should also work on benchmarking their cities and towns against international standards.
This kind of benchmarking, according to the Chief Minister, should evolve into a healthy competition between towns, by eventually becoming a public campaign.
"Create awareness in public where they can become responsible for their actions. We will also seek feedback from the public on how municipalities are carrying out beautification programs," he said.
He suggested that municipalities can appoint city-planning and architecture consultants and plan their beautification programmes.
During the meeting, Naidu, who heads a sub-group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat Mission, sought suggestions from commissioners on how he can put forward best solutions for waste management in the country.
He informed them that these suggestions will be presented to the Swachh Bharat Group in the next meeting.