Bengaluru: Four more districts in Karnataka are set to become 100 percent open defecation free by January 30, said Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H K Patil.
“With this, the number of districts free from open defecation will be 20 by January 30. As of now, 16 districts are free from open defecation in the state,” Minister Patil told media persons here on Thursday. The four districts are Chamarajanagar, Chikballapur, Koppal, and Mysuru where construction of toilets is in progress. “We are confident of completing the construction of toilets in these districts by January 30,” the minister said.
The state government, as part of Swachh Bharat Mission, has constructed 37.22 lakh toilets in 16 districts covering 97 taluks and 3,454gram panchayats and 17,536 villages.
“The number of constructed toilets will be 42 lakh with the addition of 4,40,000 toilets by January 30. We need to construct 18 lakh more toilets to achieve 100 percent target of making state open defecation free,” the minister said.
Kolar district is the first zilla panchayat administration to achieve its 100 percent target part of state development goals. “The district administration has successfully constructed 75,000 toilets in 100 days in Kolar district covering 1,700 villages,” he said.
As on October 2, 2017, 11 districts out of 30 in Karnataka achieved 100 percent targets and these districts are considered as free of open defecation. They are Shivamogga, Chikkamagalu, Mandya, Ramanagaram, Kolar, Hassan, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural.
However, the progress of toilets construction is not up to the expectations. The districts are Vijayapura, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Raichuru, and Yadgir. “We have instructed Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officers, Panchayat Development Officers and elected representatives to expedite the construction of toilets. We have also sought the participation of non-governmental organisations and social activists in this programme,” he said.
The minister said the authorities concerned were advised to complete the construction or face stringent action for not meeting the target.
