SHILLONG: A Christmas gift awaits East Khasi Hills as the biggest and the most advanced district of Meghalaya is likely to be declared open defecation free (ODF) by the year end.
Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Tuesday, East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner, PS Dkhar said the district administration has set a pre-Christmas or year-end date to declare East Khasi Hills an ODF district.
The criteria for declaring a district ODF is that each and every household in the district should have a toilet.
According to Dkhar, the total coverage of toilets in the district at the end of September was 88 per cent and that the percentage was likely to increase to 90-91 in the next couple of weeks when a review meeting would be held.
“We have given the job to block development officers as we have more work in the rural areas,” he said.
The deputy commissioner further informed that people in the rural areas were being given Rs 12000 for the construction of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
As far as urban areas are concerned, there is not much problem except in a few slums.
Currently, only Haryana, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand and Kerala have been declared ODF under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
According to Swachh Bharat Mission website , the ODF percentage for Meghalaya stands at 72.48
As far as individual household latrines (IHHL) are concerned, the coverage in Meghalaya is 90.09 per cent.
