Odisha: ODF villages fall short of completion and monitoring

BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha has been ranked among top-five performing states where maximum number of villages have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus, glaring irregularities have come to the fore during an inspection by the officials of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

The inspection on the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin conducted in four districts during June and July found some of the villages declared ODF Plus without completion of all the activities as per the guidelines and monitoring by block and district officials.

Infrastructure and availability of water near the toilets were major problems in most of the villages. In some other villages, people continue to practice their old habits of venturing out to relieve themselves as the toilets of only three to four feet depth are filled with waste, or are in a broken state.

The Central team also found information towards sludge and septage management and plastic waste management on rural-urban convergence was not properly disseminated to block and panchayat level. Some of the additional PDs and BDOs are also not conversant with the modalities and guidelines of the programme, said the sources.

Not only in the districts inspected by the officials, but in many villages outside the study area, construction work was substandard. In some places, no toilet existed on the ground. The villagers alleged the money meant for the construction of toilets was siphoned off.

Officials of Public Health administration who visited the cholera-affected villages in Rayagada district recently also found many inhabitants without toilets. The few who had them also did not use it due to substandard work.

A senior official of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department said quality of toilets built in villages continues to be a concern as it depends on the capacity of the entrusted agency, which are either overburdened or there is lack of monitoring by the block and district officials.

Meanwhile, the department has directed the Collectors to undertake regular reviews of the blocks and carry out field visits to monitor the progress of works in villages which have been declared as ODF Plus and new villages to be declared by October 2, besides roping in SHGs for door-to-door collection of plastic waste at appropriate frequency.

Collectors and chief development officer-cum-executive officer of zilla parishads have been asked to ensure that the ODF Plus status of the villages is properly verified and address the gaps, if any, on priority, access to toilets for 100 per cent households and no defecation in public places, saturation of 100 pc of tubewells with community leach pits, after the concerns were raised against the quality of construction by the Central team.

BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha has been ranked among top-five performing states where maximum number of villages have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus, glaring irregularities have come to the fore during an inspection by the officials of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The inspection on the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin conducted in four districts during June and July found some of the villages declared ODF Plus without completion of all the activities as per the guidelines and monitoring by block and district officials. Infrastructure and availability of water near the toilets were major problems in most of the villages. In some other villages, people continue to practice their old habits of venturing out to relieve themselves as the toilets of only three to four feet depth are filled with waste, or are in a broken state. The Central team also found information towards sludge and septage management and plastic waste management on rural-urban convergence was not properly disseminated to block and panchayat level. Some of the additional PDs and BDOs are also not conversant with the modalities and guidelines of the programme, said the sources. Not only in the districts inspected by the officials, but in many villages outside the study area, construction work was substandard. In some places, no toilet existed on the ground. The villagers alleged the money meant for the construction of toilets was siphoned off. Officials of Public Health administration who visited the cholera-affected villages in Rayagada district recently also found many inhabitants without toilets. The few who had them also did not use it due to substandard work. A senior official of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department said quality of toilets built in villages continues to be a concern as it depends on the capacity of the entrusted agency, which are either overburdened or there is lack of monitoring by the block and district officials. Meanwhile, the department has directed the Collectors to undertake regular reviews of the blocks and carry out field visits to monitor the progress of works in villages which have been declared as ODF Plus and new villages to be declared by October 2, besides roping in SHGs for door-to-door collection of plastic waste at appropriate frequency. Collectors and chief development officer-cum-executive officer of zilla parishads have been asked to ensure that the ODF Plus status of the villages is properly verified and address the gaps, if any, on priority, access to toilets for 100 per cent households and no defecation in public places, saturation of 100 pc of tubewells with community leach pits, after the concerns were raised against the quality of construction by the Central team.