South Delhi corporation claims 92 wards ‘open-defecation free’
NEW DELHI: After the New Delhi Municipal Council, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation claimed to have achieved ‘opendefecation free’ status in its 92 wards.
The agency has achieved the target by fulfilling all the prescribed parameters under the Swachh Bharat Mission before declaring the wards as ‘open defecation free’.
According to SDMC mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat, any urban local body can declare its areas open defecation free under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan if it becomes successful in providing public conveniences in 75% of area. “In our case, we have been successful in providing the facility in 88.5% of localities under 92 wards,” she said.
“For achieving this status we had identified a number of open defecation spots frequently used by public. Then, we provided public toilet complexes around these places. We also arranged for accessing free toilet facility by women and children in hotels/ eateries/restaurants for free,” she said. The department claims to have constructed 225 public toilet complexes over the last one year in the wards.
The SDMC has been able to provide access to either an individual toilet or community toilet within 500 metres from the residential settlements in all 92 wards and has also ensured that all commercial areas in the wards have access to public toilets within a distance of one kilometre, said the SDMC official.
“We also gathered information from schools students regarding the use of toilets at schools and at homes. Similar certificates were submitted by the Self Help Groups regarding the residents’ access to the toilets in each ward,” said the official.
The agency claimed to have disseminated information against the practice by highlighting its adverse impact on the health of the residents and environment in addition to levying hefty spot fines and deploying volunteers at open defecation spots.
SDMC commissioner Puneet Goel said that civic agency will now issue a public notice soon inviting feedback/suggestions/ comments/objections from the residents about the arrangement in these 92 wards.
They will be given 15 days to express their requirements and loopholes at these public conveniences.
“In case no objection is received in response to the public notice the SDMC will announce its final resolution and forward it to the state government which will certify our claim through an appropriate third party verification process,” said Goel.
The residents are being exhorted to submit their comments/objections at dirdemscc@gmail.com or 011 -2235253.
Of the 104 wards, 12 wards which could not make it to the list include four in West Delhi (Madipur, Hari Nagar A, Maj. Bhupinder Singh Nagar and Kunwar Singh Nagar ), two in Najafgarh (Bijwasan and Mahipalpur) , three in central zone (Jaitpur, Badarpur and Sarita Vihar) and three in south zone (Govindpuri, Tuglakabad and Harkesh Nagar).
Goel said that the remaining 12 wards will also be declared as defecation free by the corporation as it is ready to provide the mandatory infrastructure in these wards immediately. “We are providing makeshift/ robust temporary toilets in the 12 wards. The project is likely to be complete in 15 days,” he said.