PM Modi’s hometown to be open defecation-free by March 15

While the district administration prepared a plan to finish the work on annual basis, construction of 7,049 toilets was completed during year 2013-14 and during 2014-15, as many as 18,461 toilets were constructed. There were plans to construct more than 41,000 toilets during 2015-16, out of which, 38,332 toilets have already been constructed, read a release from the district administration. As a part of making the entire district ODF, the administration has planned to make Vadnagar taluka 100 percent ODF on primary phase before March 15 and then Unjha, Visnagar, Vijapur, Jotana, Bechraji other talukas will be covered, respectively, under the plan. In Vadnagar, as per the survey, 475 toilets were constructed during 2013-14 and 1,912 toilets were constructed in 2014-15. With the construction of 4,485 more toilets in the current year, total 6,873 toilets have been made so far.

All the activities are currently being undertaken in the direction to announce the taluka (Vadnagar) ODF by March 15. While district level day-to-day monitoring activities have been organised in each village of the taluka, now remaining 2,087 toilets are expected to be constructed in the taluka.

Under the joint signature of the district collector and the DDO, 187 villages have been adopted by class-1-2 officials of all cadres of the district and one village per an employee come under the district panchayat given for undertaking ODF activities. “Around 70,000 toilets will be made in rural areas and we will implement the model of CLTS (Community-Led Total Sanitation) — an innovative methodology for mobilising communities to completely eliminate open defecation (OD). CLTS has already been successfully implemented in 30 villages of Kheralu taluka of Mehsana based on the Himachal Pradesh model. While the activity in Kheralu was for water conservation, but we added the sanitation element to it in a pilot mode and it has worked. Now we will replicate it in Vadnagar and Unjha. We have completed building of toilets in 7 talukas,” said Lochan Sehra, Collector, Mehsana.

A survey is expected to be conducted to cull out public places like schools, anganwadis and primary healthcare centre in Vadnagar where toilet facility is not available and then 100 percent toilet construction will be completed. Toilet construction activities are being conducted in the taluka this year.