OREANDA-NEWS. Ten towns have been certified as ‘Open Defecation Free’ with the Ministry of Urban Development beginning the process of third party verification of ODF claims by towns under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

The Ministry has got ODF claims of 11 towns independently verified by the Quality Council of India and certified the claims of ten of them as per the Protocol evolved for such certification. The towns certified to have become ODF are; Kagal, Panchgani, Vengurla, Murgud and Panhala in Maharashtra and Siddipet, Shadnaga, Suryapet, Achampet and Huzurnagar in Telangana. The claim of Bhongir in Telanagana will be reassessed.

A total of 141 towns in 7 States have claimed to have become Open Defecation Free including 100 in Maharashtra and these claims are under verification.  The progress of Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas was presented by the Ministry officials at a review meeting taken by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu. Shri Naidu, who has been regularly reviewing progress of the Mission asked the officials to ensure effective follow up action with States for realizing the objectives of the Mission.

13 towns claiming ODF status in Gujarat include; Gandhidham, Navsarai, Rapar and Mandavi. Six other towns making such claim in Telangana are; Gajwel, Ibrahimpatnam, Jagtiyal, Madhira, Sattupalli and Sircilla.

10 towns in West Bengal claiming elimination of Open Defecation include; Krishananagar, Nabadwip, Santipur and Kalyani. Other ODF claims are from Ambikapur, Dhamtari and Ambagarh Chowki in Chattisgarh, Dungarpur in Rajasthan and Mairang and kakching in Manipur.

As per the reports received from States so far in the Ministry, a total of 974 cities and towns will eliminate Open Defecation next year. These include-Andhra Pradesh-all 112 urban areas,  Kerala- all 59,

Gujarat-170 of 195, Uttar Pradesh-85 of 648, Madhya Pradesh-68 of 364, Karnataka-50 of 220, Chattisgarh-42 of 166, Assam-40 of 88, Telangana-37 of 68,  Rajasthan-34 of 185, Tamil Nadu-25 of 721 and Jammu & Kashmir-22 of 86.

As per the Protocol for third party verification and certification of ODF status- each Ward and City first self-declares as ODF and on intimation of the same by the respective Urban Local Body or State, the Ministry gets such claims verified in 30 days based on assessment of service level status (construction and availability of household, community and public toilets) and independent observations by the third party. For each Zone in a city/town, a minimum of five places will be inspected i.e a slum, school, public area like market or religious place, residential area and bus stand/railway station. For a city with a population of less than five lakhs, a minimum of 9 places shall be inspected and 17 places for a city with more than five lakh population.