Pune district 2nd in state in fighting open defecation: UNICEF survey

178 villages in the district have achieved 100% open defecation free status; Sindhudurg tops the list.

Pune district has figured second on the list of districts in the state where a large number of villages have achieved cent per cent Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, according to a recent survey by the UNICEF.

With 178 villages in the district achieving 100 per cent ODF followed by another 251 villages achieving 99 per cent, the survey puts the district only second to Sindhudurg, where 205 villages have achieved the 100 per cent target.

According to the survey, Pune district comprising a total of 1,404 villages in 13 talukas, has overall scored 82 per cent on ODF, thus standing first in the division.

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The UNICEF survey was carried out in several states on the basis of a uniform definition set by the ministry of water and sanitation as part of the Union government’s campaign to rid the country of open defecation.

A UNICEF survey in 2011 had said that 58 per cent of the world’s population practising open defecation lived in India, after which the Union government had undertaken such surveys in all the states.

“In Pune district, almost all the villages saw above 50 per cent of ODF. We are prompting others to take up the drive so that we are able to achieve the 100 per cent target soon,” said a senior Zilla Parishad official.

Recently, the state government’s water and sanitation department’s principal secretary Rajesh Kumar had lauded the district for the feat.

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The standard definition of ODF, as set by the ministry, says there should be no visible faeces in the environment/village and every household as well as public/community institute must have a toilet.

The ministry had said that an important objective of the Swachh Bharat Mission was achieving and sustaining the ODF status.

“The survey has been carried out as per this definition,” said the Zilla Parishad (ZP) official.

ZP officials said the baseline survey in 2012 had put the percentage in Pune district at 74, which has now touched 82 per cent.

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In the state in 2012, overall ODF was 48 per cent, which has now gone up to 58.1 per cent following a 10 per cent rise over the last four years.

According to the survey, there were 12 lakh households with toilet blocks in 2012, which has gone up to 18 lakh.

It says 11 districts have achieved 100 per cent ODF status while eight districts are below 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, Pune Zilla Parishad has launched an aggressive campaign to achieve the 100 per cent target before the 2019 deadline.

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