The Ministry of Urban Development on Saturday reviewed progress of various works under different new urban missions in Varanasi with all mission officials concerned to make the city open defecation free by October this year.
Secretary (Urban Development) Durga Shanker Mishra, who took over charge of the Ministry, directed the officials to chalk out effective plan in this regard in consultation with Varanasi Municipal Corporation. Over 6,000 individual household toilets and about 150 community and public toilets were identified to be constructed in this regard.
Varanasi is a high profile constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Varanasi Smart City Plan was also discussed at length. While appreciating the well thought out plan centred around development along the major ghats of the city besides redevelopment of roads and congested city spaces, Mishra stressed on the need for time bound implementation of theplan. It was decided to talk to Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA) for early start of the work regarding development of a new convention centre in the city.
The city gets millions of visitors from across the world each year. The ghats of the city are beautiful. But unfortunately, the city is lacking when it comes to cleanliness.
The officials also reviewed progress of work in providing water taps and sewerage connections to over 56,000 households under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.