Uttarakhand has become the fourth open-defecation free (ODF) State (rural areas) in the country. Disclosing this at a programme in the city on Thursday, the Union Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that this was a great achievement for the mountain State. Among those who attended the programme were Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Mayor Viond Chamoli and Chief Secretary S Ramaswami.
Stating that the State has made the achievement after Kerala, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, the CM said that June 22 would go down as an important day in the history of Uttarakhand with the rural belt of the State having won the covetable tag of ODF. He further pledged that the urban areas would be made free from open defecation in the current financial year. “Defecation in the open spawns health hazards aside from damaging the environment and the eco-system thriving in it,” he said.
CM lauded Swachh Bharat Mission as the momentous scheme launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to free the country from the detestable practice of open defecation. On this occasion, the Union Minister and the CM felicitated the Panchayat chairpersons, officers, gram pradhans and the motivators for their contribution to the mission.
While hailing the State for achieving the feat, the Union Minister Tomar said that the rural areas of the State becoming open defecation free would inspire others to emulate the example. He applauded the chief minister, officials, the elected public representatives and the people for their contribution to the cause.
Notably, the state government had instructed the officials concerned to certify physically or through Jio trekking the ongoing works of building toilets. last month, the state government had declared nine districts as ODF with four districts - Tehri, Pauri, Dehradun and Haridwar-being left out. As per the baseline survey, 36790 toilets, including 1173 in Tehri, 4180 in Pauri, 3228 in Dehradun and 28209 in Haridwar were yet to be constructed. Thirteen districts being divided into 95 blocks, 65 blocks have become ODF. The state government has constructed 5.89 lakh toilets under this head since 2012.