With 35 per cent i.e 22,97,389 individual household toilets already been constructed in urban areas in two years since the launch of the Swachchh Bharat Mission (SBM) against the target of 66,42,221 toilets by 2019, the Government on Monday claimed that the construction of toilets meant for ending Open Defecation in urban areas is broadly on course.
A senior official from the Urban Development Ministry said that Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have met the mission targets three years ahead in September this year with Gujarat fulfilling the target of 4,06,388 toilets and Andhra Pradesh building 1,93,426 toilets in urban areas. The two states have declared them Open Defecation Free in urban areas.
In a review meeting chaired by Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu, it was observed that other leading performers were Kerala having built 62,450 (68 per cent of the mission target of 90,986), Chattisgarh-1,83,726 (61 per cent) against target 3,00,000, Madhya Pradesh-2,34,377 (46 per cent ) against 5,12,389 and Tamil Nadu -2,57,781 (43 per cent of mission target of 6,02,029 toilets).
The States that have met over 30 per cent of mission targets are — Maharashtra-33 per cent having built 2,07,888 toilets out of the mission target of 6,29,819, Uttar Pradesh-31 per cent (2,53,979/8,28,237), Karnataka-31 per cent (1,09,704/3,50,000) and Jharkhand-30 per cent (47,968/ 1,61,713).
The official said Telangana has met 28 per cent of the mission target having built 59,967 of the 2,16,075 toilets, followed by West Bengal-23 per cent (1,20,628/5,15,419), Puducherry-22 per cent (2,135/9,626), Punjab-19 per cent (26,188/1,38,010).
States and UTs who have built less than 10 per cent of mission targets are: Manipur (9%), Bihar (7.40%), Uttarakhand (7%), Odisha (4.40%), Mizoram (3.34%) and Arunachal Pradesh (1.60%).