99% Indian cities declared ODF

IAS Current Affairs

4 years ago

99% Indian cities declared ODF. India’s urban areas areofficially becoming totally open-defecation free

Not a single person is found answering nature’s call in the open for want of access to toilets.
The only things standing in the way are the data from West Bengal, and Covid-19.

As per the latest survey figures, 99% Indian cities declared ODF under urban local bodies have become open defecation free (ODF).
- Six years of the government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission considered to be the reason for ODF mission.
- Data show that of the 4,372 cities in India to be made ODF, 4,323 stand declared as ODF.
- Of them 4,204 about 96 per cent stand as ODF verified cities.
In solid waste management, it has already ensured 90% door to door collection and the rate of segregation is improving steadily.
Solid waste management processing has gone up to 67 per cent from 18 per cent in 2014.
- Target is to reach 100 per cent by the time India celebrates 75 years of Independence in 2022 in the 500 Indian cities under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

Open defecation has been a problem mainly in rural areas.
India has claimed that as of last year, all 5,99,963 villages of the country have attained ODF status by construction of the required toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission-Rural scheme.

Topic

GS II : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Current Affairs Compilation : 3 october 2020