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In a novel initiative to attain total eradication of open defecation, Mehsana district administration has roped in the self-help groups (SHGs) to motivate the public to join this sanitation drive in the district. First, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown Vadnagar in Mehsana district will be made open defecation-free (ODF) before March 15. Later, the district administration has planned to cover Unjha, Visnagar, Vijapur, Jotana, Bechraji talukas.
Incidentally, a baseline survey was conducted in 2012 in Mehsana covering 601 gram panchayats out of 655 villages in the district. As per the survey, construction works of 1,38,013 toilets were not completed.
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.
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