Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. (Express photo/File)
The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said that the country’s civic bodies will achieve their target of constructing five lakh community and 67 lakh individual household toilets by the end of 2019.
After inaugurating a workshop on “Swachh Survekshan-2019” for the municipal bodies in the capital Tuesday, he said: “As far as the open defecation free (ODF) target is concerned, a behavioural change of the public is required at large, both in rural and urban areas of the country.”
The bylaws, notified by L-G Anil Baijal on January 15 this year, put the onus of waste segregation — wet waste (biodegradable), dry waste (non-biodegradable), and domestic hazardous waste — directly on those who generate it, including households. However, the civic bodies have executed the laws in very few colonies in the capital.
The workshop, organised by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), in collaboration with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, was attended by delegates from all three civic bodies and the Delhi Cantonment Board. Puri said: “In addition to construction of toilets, more attention and efforts are required into the scientific processing of solid waste management.”
He said that under the smart city initiative, the NDMC has achieved many milestones by commissioning various projects such as WiFi, smart poles, solar tree and ideation centre at Connaught Place. He added: “The scientific segregation of waste, which started in 73 cities in 2016, has now increased to 4,203 cities in 2018 and will spread to all cities of the country by 2019.”