After topping the list of clean cities of India for two consecutive years, Mysuru now has added another feather in its cap. The heritage city has been declared an ‘Open Defecation-Free City’.
The Quality Council of India (QCI), which carried out a Union Ministry of Urban Development-commissioned survey across 75 cities, including 53 cities with a population of more than one million and State capitals, declared Mysuru as an Open Defecation-Free City.
Announcing this at a press conference here on Saturday, Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa said Mysuru had topped the cities in the survey and becomes eligible to receive the Swachhata certificate, which will be presented by Union government officials at a function at Town Hall in Mysuru on September 27.
An award in this connection will also be presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on September 30, he added.
While Mysuru Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep said that Mysuru was one of the first million plus population cities to have become open defecation-free, Director of the Directorate of Municipal Administration R. Vishal said the officials in Karnataka had been informed that Mysuru and Mangaluru had topped the cities with a population of sub-10 lakh and sub-5 lakh respectively in the survey.
However, there has been no official communication in the regard from the government of India. “We have not received any formal communication in the regard. Their (QCI) teams had come for the survey, but final ranking and scoring has not yet been conveyed. We are still awaiting final validation,” Dr. Vishal added.
Responding to queries, Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner Jagadeesh said the officials informed them that Mysuru had vied with Vijayawada for the top slot. “Eventually, Mysuru was given the top slot,” he said quoting QCI representatives.
Toilets
Mr. Bhyrappa said 99 per cent of the houses in Mysuru had individual toilets. “The number of applications for government subsidies for the construction of individual toilets has progressively come down over the last few years. This year, we have received a total of 425 applications and have sanctioned the funds,” he said.
He said there were a total of 50 public toilets including five eco-friendly toilets in Mysuru City. While six more public toilets were under construction, tenders had been invited for construction of another 23 public toilets, he said.
