Uttarakhand is all set to turn into an open-defecation free (ODF) State by May this year, becoming thus the fourth such state after Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
Stating this at a meeting with the district magistrates via video conferencing in the secretariat on Thursday, the chief secretary said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi might announce Uuttarakhand as ODF from Pauri on June 5 on the occasion of the World Environment Day.
He asked the DMs to certify things through physical inspection or geo trekking after the required number of toilets are constructed. He also asked them to have the construction of the toilets completed latest by May 31 this year.
Notably, nine of the state’s 13 districts are ODF with things being incomplete in the rest four districts- Tehri, Pauri, Dehradun and Haridwar.
As per the baseline survey, 36790 toilets, including 1173 in Tehri, 4180 in Pauri, 3228 in Dehradun and 28209 in Haridwar are yet to be constructed. CS asked the DMs of these four districts to have things completed at the earliest.
As things stand now, 65 out of 95 blocks across the 13 districts of the state have turned ODF. So far 5.44 lakh toilets have been built at the behest of the state government under the ODF project.