Telangana News

On one side Swachhata status report 2016 has revealed that 94.3 percent of the households have toilets in urban Telangana, and on the other side, open defecation continues to be a nuisance.  

Only 5 out of 68 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Telangana, have been declared open defecation free (ODF). The goal of Telangana Municipal Administration Department is to make all ULBs ODF by June 2, 2017. But that seems to remain as a dream. Though, initially, the target was to make all ULBs ODF by October 2016, only 5 towns have made the cut so far.

Siddipet, Suryapet, Shadnagar, Achampet and Huzurnagar are the five towns which have been declared ODF, ignoring Hyderabad, where about 70000 households do not have toilets.

Under 'Swachh Bharat - Swachh Telangana' Mission, ULB provides Rs. 12000 to the household to construct a toilet. While the centre contributes Rs. 4000, state government contributes Rs. 8000 for each toilet.

"Though there is a delay in achieving the status of ODF for ULBs, the programme is going on quite successfully at ground level. Even this delay in achieving the ODF status for all ULBs is due to stringent checks followed before announcing a town or city ODF. State team and a central team verify and third party assessment is done before announcing an ULB ODF," said a senior official of the Swachh Bharat Swachh Telangana Mission which monitoring the programme.

"Also, we want to ensure that toilets not just get constructed but are also used. There is no use in constructing toilets, if we do not bring a change in people's mindset to use them. We are taking the help of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in creating awareness about the necessity of using toilets among people. We are confident that by June 2, 2017 all ULBs in Telangana will be ODF," he added.