Sat Sharma,
Aggarwal felicitate Urban Local Bodies Jammu for significant achievement
JAMMU, JUNE 13: In a
significant achievement under Swachh Bharat Mission, four Urban Local Bodies of
Jammu division namely Lakhanpur, Vijaypur, Doda and Thathri were simultaneously
declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) towns.
According to Ms
Sushma Chauhan, Director, Urban Local Bodies Jammu, the declaration was made
officially by Quality Council of India (QCI), after its rigorous audit process,
which spanned across 3 continuous days at all municipalities. She
said with this achievement, these 4 towns also became the first in Jammu
Province to achieve ODF status.
According to Ms
Chauhan, declaration of ODF status for any city is important not only from
achieving an important objective of Swachh Bharat Mission but it is also a
glaring testimony of the changing behavior of citizens of these places, with
improved sanitation being accepted as one of important facets of life.
She said it was a
team effort and the Executive Officers of these four Municipal Committees,
which have achieved ODF have played a significant role and displayed required
leadership skills to pass through the tough ODF certification process of QCI.
The preliminary stage was set for this target by focused implementation of
construction target of Community Toilets /Public Toilets (CT/PT) and Individual
Household Latrines (IHHL) in all 36 ULBs under Directorate of Urban Local
Bodies Jammu. The strategy kicked off with formulation of Information,
Education and Communication (IEC) Strategy, which was essential for information
dissemination and motivating people about ODF, she said.
She further said
that in order to achieve ODF status for remaining ULBs, of Jammu Province, a
departmental resource team has been constituted comprising of Tariq Balwan,
CEO- Doda MC, Sanjay Sharma of Thathri MC, DalipAbrol of Vijaypur MC, Ravinder
Singh of Lakhanpur MC for guiding and helping other ULBs to achieve ODF Status.
This team shall be fully supported by Ravinder Sharma from DULB HO. Necessary
technical guidance shall be provided from Dr Bharat Bhushan, State Solid Waste
cum Sanitation Expert of IPE Global AMRUT PDMC team.
It is pertinent
to mention that so far, only two cities -Leh and Srinagar have been conferred
by ODF status.
Director Urban
Local Bodies Jammu, further informed that this ODF certification is valid only
for 6 months and these ULBs shall be again audited for recertification in Nov
2018. So, Sustenance of ODF status shall be a big challenge for these ULBs in
coming days.
Felicitating the
Urban Local Bodies Jammu for the landmark achievement, Minister for Housing
& Urban Development (HUDD), Satpaul Sharma said it’s indeed a proud moment
for the entire state as this achievement shall help the state to improve its
ranking considerably in the next year’s Swachh
Sarvekshan.
Financial
Commissioner H&UDD, K B Agarwal, said it is a landmark achievement, as
these towns are located in high perineal migration and tourist influx zones of
state, with high occurrences of open defecation. “It was a real challenge for
all local administrative staff and DULB team to not only provide access to
better sanitation facilities to all denizens, but also motivate them to use
these facilities,” he said.
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