With the deadline for declaring all 20 blocks Open Defecation Free (ODF) fast approaching, another 37,950 individual household latrines have to be constructed in Vellore district. As on date, the district administration has achieved 92.38% coverage in the construction of toilets.
The deadline to achieve the target of declaring all 20 blocks of Vellore district ODF was set as March 31, 2018. The construction of individual household toilets in rural households, which have been taken up under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) is an integral part of this.
Collector S. A. Raman said the work on constructing individual household toilets has gained “faster pace” in the district. “We will be declaring the district ODF on March 31. We are insisting that the owners of the households monitor the work to construct toilets to see that it is of quality and ensure that there is no deviation in design,” he said.
As per a baseline survey, there are a total of 5,11,190 rural households in the district. Of this, 2,05,526 households had toilets. The remaining 3,05,664 households did not have toilets, according to the data available with the District Rural Development Agency.
After construction of toilets commenced under the SBM (Gramin) in all 20 blocks, officials said that over 2.50 lakh toilets had been constructed.
“In fact, nearly 60,000 individual household toilets were brought under coverage in January alone. More than 3/4th of this was constructed under the programme, while the remaining were toilets that were already constructed by persons enumerated in the baseline survey on their own. As on February 21, another 37,950 toilets have to be constructed,” an officer said.
Kaniyambadi block was the first to be declared ODF in October 2017, followed by Vellore and Tirupattur blocks in January this year. “We are taking steps to declare another nine blocks – Arcot, Nemili, Anaicut, K.V.Kuppam, Madhanur, Alangayam, Timiri, Natrampalli and Katpadi – as ODF by February 28. The remaining eight blocks will be declared ODF in March,” said S. Santhanalakshmi, Zilla Swachh Bharat Prerak. Among the 743 panchayats in the 20 blocks, 542 have been declared ODF so far.
Defunct toilets
Simultaneously, works to repair and restore defunct toilets across the district are progressing. Officials said a total of 91,541 defunct toilets were identified. Of this, 49,387 toilets have been made functional after renovation/reconstruction works – accounting for 54% coverage.
Officials said that they approached banks for funding to rectify the defunct toilets. The bankers have agreed for differential rate of interest loan scheme for the owners to rectify the toilets.
