ITANAGAR, Dec 01: Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Parameswaran Iyer has suggested that as Arunachal Pradesh has kept December 2017 as the target to achieve the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, it needs to simultaneously start the verification process in the already ODF declared villages.
He said this during a meeting with the Chief Minister Pema Khandu where they discussed issues related to sanitation, particularly on the ODF mission launched by Government of India and drinking water supply.
He said after declaration of ODF, the same needs to be verified by a competent agency within three months for the mission to be actually successful.
Iyer appreciated the efforts put in by the state Department of Public Health Engineering & Water Supply (PHE&WS), the nodal agency for implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state, to achieve the ambitious target. He lauded the solid waste management system used by the department terming it a comprehensive model and said it lived up to the objective of Swachh Bharat Mission, which is not only about building toilets but also keeping villages clean.
While taking the status of drinking water supply in the state, the Secretary assured funds were not a constraint as special funds have been earmarked for the North East, which cannot be utilized anywhere else.
He requested the Chief Minister to pre-finance projects under the centrally sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), which will be immediately reimbursed by the ministry after successful completion of the projects.
Khandu assured that the state government will take advantage of the centrally sponsored schemes and projects for the benefit of the rural people. Khandu directed the PHE&WS department to work in close coordination with the ministry officials for the success of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Dr Sonali Ghosh, Director, SBM-G, Yugal Joshi, Director, IEC and Senior Consultants, Chief Secretary Satya Gopal, PHE&WS Commissioner H K Shalla and Chief Engineer Toko Jyoti were present at the meeting. (CMO)
