A certificate declaring Udupi an open defecation-free city was handed over by the Quality Council of India under the Swachh Bharat Mission to the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) here on Wednesday.
At a function to mark the handing over of the certificate, Abhinav Yadav, Project Manager, Quality Council of India, Swachh Bharat Mission – Open Defecation-Free Project, said that this certificate was valid for six months after which the council would again carry out a survey to check if the local body was maintaining its position.
The process of evaluation is continuous. The aim is to keep the CMC motivated and constantly strive to retain and improve its position.
Priority
The priority under the project is to see that the permanent residents of the city have toilets. Though migrant workers work in the city, they are not permanent residents, he said.
However, during evaluation once in six months, which will go on till October 2019, the local bodies are expected to take steps to provide toilets at the migrant workers colony as they would be motivated to retain their position as Open Defecation-Free city.
During the survey conducted about a month ago, the council had randomly selected areas which it inspected, besides public places such as the railway station and bus stand in the city. It had also spoken to the local people during the survey, he said.
Community toilets
K. Raghavendra, CMC Environment Engineer, said that in the city, about 98 per cent permanent residents had their own toilets, while the remaining used community toilets as there was no space for constructing a toilet in their own houses, he said.
Meenakshi Bannanje, president of Udupi CMC, said that the team from the Quality Council of India had taken declaration forms from over 20,000 students and over 1,300 members of Self-Help Groups stating that they and their family members would use only toilets, and shun open defecation.
The CMC had provided funds from various schemes, including the Swachh Bharat Mission, to construct toilets for 166 families in the city, while it got 56 community toilets constructed in workers’ colonies.
“I am delighted at the city getting the Open Defecation-Free tag. This has been possible due to the cooperation of the citizens, the staff, and municipal councillors,” Ms. Bannanje said.
D. Manjunathaiah, CMC Commissioner, said that in the second phase, toilets would be constructed at workers’ colonies near Adiudupi, Nittur, Parkala and Beedinagudde.
Sandhya Tilakraj, CMC vice-president, Prashanth Bhat, P. Yuvaraj, and councillors were present.
