Rural areas of Assam to be ODF by year-end: Official

• The rural areas of Assam are all set to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) by December 31 this year with 98 per cent of the target being already achieved according tosecretary to the union ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, GoI.
• Assam and Tripura are the only two north eastern states where rural areas are yet to become ODF, while the remaining six states in the region have already achieved it much ahead of the October-2, 2019 deadline.
• The major challenge faced by Assam is the short working season of four to five months due to heavy rain in most parts of the state.
• Several villages are located in remote areas of the districts like Dhemaji, Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and the riverine areas where work has been delayed due to connectivity issues.
• The focus on the other six ODF states – Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Manipur – will be now on ensuring sustainability, he said adding that all ODF villages would be ensured water supply on a priority basis. Solid and liquid waste management would also be given importance.
• The government wanted to get every toilet geo-tagged with 86 per cent being already done, double verification and rapid response to reports of poor quality of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).

Swachh Bharat Mission

• The Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in October 2014, consists of two sub-missions – the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM-G), which will be implemented in rural areas, and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), which will be implemented in urban areas.
• SBM-G seeks to eliminate open defecation in rural areas by 2019 through improving access to sanitation. It also seeks to generate awareness to motivate communities to adopt sustainable sanitation practices, and encourage the use of appropriate technologies for sanitation.

By: Ziyaur Rahman