The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) is looking at private donors to achieve an ‘Open Defecation-Free Coimbatore’ by 2015.
In the State Government’s Vision 2023 document released in 2012 by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, one of the major objectives was ensuring that all residents of Tamil Nadu had access to safe sanitation.
Official sources told The Hindu here recently that Coimbatore was among the first districts in the State to take up the initiatives towards this mission through solid waste management projects, constructing toilets in all schools and anganwadis besides undertaking an information, education and communication campaign among elected representatives of local bodies. Its progress was reviewed on a weekly basis.
As per the 2011 Census, 46 per cent of the households in Coimbatore district lacked toilets.
While the State Government had constructed nearly 23,000 toilets in the last financial year, sources said that another 1.47 lakh toilets need to be constructed in rural areas before the district could be declared as Open Defecation-Free.
As the Government alone would not be able to achieve this target, a senior DRDA official said that they were looking at a public-private partnership approach. Besides tapping Corporate Social Responsibility funds, they were also looking to social organisations.
Rotary Clubs and Round Table had come forward to fund toilets at Arasipalayam village. Canara Bank, the lead bank for the district, was also contributing in Annur Block.
Further, the DRDA was also in talks with a major private company, which was considering adopting an entire village.
The Agency had constituted a sanitation bureau, staffed by qualified graduates, to coordinate the campaign both online in social networking sites and on the ground too.
The Bureau operated two Facebook pages – ‘Sanitation Bureau - Mission ODF Coimbatore Community’ and ‘Coimbatore DRDA,’ which create awareness about the need for sanitation and hygiene and also highlighted the campaign. It also encouraged school and college students by providing information about students who had won prizes in contests held as part of this campaign.
The Bureau also came up with a project to create artworks in rural areas focussing on ending open defecation, personal hygiene and sanitation besides rainwater harvesting.
