SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, emphasised upon the concerned to intensify their efforts to declare all the habitations of J&K as ODF+ within this month only.
He observed that the requisite funds demanded has already been put at the disposal of the department so there should be no delay in meeting the deadline.
Dr Mehta made these remarks while speaking in a meeting to review the performance of this Swachhta Mission here in UT.
The meeting was attended by the Commissioner Secretary, RDD; Director, Rural Sanitation besides other concerned officers of the Department.
Jammu-based officers participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
Dr Mehta enquired from the officers about the status of door to door collection of waste in each village of the UT. He impressed upon the officers to make sure that the legacy waste is also lifted from the villages and dumped at the sites identified for this purpose in each panchayat.
He also maintained that the segregation of waste should be done in each panchayat as per the requirements so that the disposal of the same becomes smooth. He told them to sensitize the people about the cleanliness of their surroundings and also penalize those found littering around undesirably at the peril of the environment.
The Chief Secretary maintained that there is no substitute for cleanliness and all have to be serious about it. He observed that the job is for everybody to perform beginning from the self to his/her surroundings. He made out that the task of cleanliness of our villages is not a difficult task to accomplish if we all do our bit.
He acknowledged that much more headway has been made in making our villages clean than earlier. He simultaneously remarked that since the performance on the ground has been encouraging the bar of expectations has also been raised high. He complimented the Department for its achievements made in making our villages clean and asked them not to lessen their efforts till the last of our villages is declared clean and hygienic in every respect.
He took appraisal from the officers about the status of the construction of segregation sheds, provision of Composite/Soak pits, drainage facilities, and disposal of waste in the villages. He also enquired from them about the implementation of Plastic Waste Management plans for he remarked that such waste creates unhygienic conditions mostly in our surroundings.
The Commissioner Secretary, RDD told the meeting that out of 7163 villages 6384 villages have achieved the ODF+ status in the UT of J&K with a coverage of 87% of villages here. She stressed on making every village a model category village in the coming months for the same is within target after the given infrastructure is created in each Panchayat.
On the occasion, the Director of Rural Sanitation gave a presentation on the current status of all the initiatives taken under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen in the UT. He gave out that the door-to-door collection of waste is going on in every village. He further revealed that Solid Waste Management (SWM) plan has been formulated for every Panchayat besides bye-laws for advisory committees enforcement and monitoring purpose.
The meeting was informed that the agency for the collection of Solid Waste has been identified in all the districts with an allied financial model for its sustainability. District Sanitation Committees has been constituted also. It was further given out that the legacy waste of more than 80000 kgs has been lifted by the department so far. It was further revealed that some 5 lakh souls had been contacted during Swachhta Karwan which traversed almost through 1000 villages of the UT.
Moreover, the meeting was apprised that in order to ensure proper sanitation, thousands of community compost pits, segregation sheds, more than 50000 Soak pits/Leach pits, drainage facilities, and Grey Water Management (GWM) systems have been created in villages in addition to the creation of individual household assets for SWM and GWM under the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen throughout the length and breadth of J&K.
