Dimapur, Nov. 15 (EMN): All the north-eastern states on Thursday have committed to declaring themselves as Open Defecation Free (ODF) by December this year. The decision was taken during the regional review meeting of the north-eastern states held in Guwahati in Assam.
The review meeting saw participation from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. The meeting comprised discussions on sustaining ODF status, Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) and rural water supply.
During the meeting, key aspects of sustainability such as geo-tagging, verification of ODF villages, conversion of dysfunctional toilets, IEC expenditure, ‘Swachhagrah’i engagement were reviewed.
Parameswaran Iyer, secretary of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation stressed on the importance of the joint effort being made by the Central and State SBM team towards sustaining gains made under the program so far.
Sikkim highlighted the solid and liquid waste management initiatives being undertaken in the first ODF State of the country.
Assam shared about the “Mission Sambhav”, under which more than one lakh pit digging activities were initiated on a single day during the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ fortnight.
Akshay Rout, director general of Special Projects, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation pointed to the criticality of the sustainability phase of SBM and the necessity for the managers for regular monitoring.
V. Radha, joint secretary of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, emphasized on the need to increase the coverage of household water supply connections by taking up community-managed, low cost schemes.
Deputy Commissioners of Assam also interacted with the central team through a video conference.
The review concluded with a media interaction with eminent media persons and media houses from across the North East.
