Guwahati, Nov 15: Non-Open Defecation Free states from the northeast on Wednesday committed to declaring themselves as ODF by December 2018.

A regional review meeting of the North Eastern States was held in Guwahati, Assam, today. The workshop comprised discussions on sustaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM), and rural water supply. Teams from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim joined the review.

Assam shared highlights of "Mission Sambhav", under which more than one lakh pit digging activities were initiated on a single day during the Swachhata Hi Seva fortnight.

Key aspects of sustainability such as geo-tagging, verification of ODF villages, conversion of dysfunctional toilets, IEC expenditure, Swachhagrahi engagement were reviewed.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation emphasized the importance of the joint effort being made by the Central and State SBM teams towards sustaining gains made under the program so far. He spoke about the importance of continued focus on behaviour change communication and periodic verifications to ensure that the safe sanitation habits and practices developed over the past few years are sustained in the future as well.

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Shri Akshay Rout, Director General, Special Projects, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation pointed to the criticality of the sustainability phase of SBM and the necessity for the managers for regular monitoring.

A parallel session was held for the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) at the review meeting. Ms V. Radha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, spoke about the need to increase the coverage of household water supply connections by taking up community-managed, low-cost schemes.

The Dy Commissioners of Assam interacted with the central team through a video Conference.