Andhra CM Naidu declares state open defecation free as govt builds 2.7 lakh toilets

“We have completed the task of constructing toilets but they have to be used by every individual as well," Naidu said.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said that the state was now Open Defecation Free (ODF) as it had achieved its goal of constructing 2.77 lakh individual toilets.

Naidu who was travelling through Chittoor district, unveiled a plaque in Tirupati to honour the achievement.

“We have completed the task of constructing toilets but they have to be used by every individual. For that, the administration has to take up some awareness programmes,’’ the Chief Minister was quoted as saying.

In October 2106, all of Andhra Pradesh’s urban areas were declared as open defecation free on the occasion of MK Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

At the time, during a meeting with the Collectors of all 13 districts, it emerged that the state had made good progress in construction of individual, community, and public toilets in all 110 municipal areas and 89% of total wards had door-to-door waste collection.

In December the same year, Guntur was given the tag of the first city to be Open Defecation Free (ODF) in the Amaravati capital region in Andhra Pradesh.

The Union government and Swachch Bharat Mission presented the ODF city certificate to the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC).

The GMC set a benchmark by constructing 7,160 toilets in the city to meet the needs of 30,000 people who used to defecate openly, overtaking cities like Vijayawada and Tirupati, as it secured the rank of second best city in the state.

Read: Andhra Pradesh meets its deadline, all urban areas declared free of open defecation

This development comes after in January this year, the Swachh Bharat mission granted the ODF tag to Hyderabad after the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) undertook measures like construction of 98 public toilets, including 24 toilets for women, urging petrol bunks and restaurants to allow public to use their toilets and so on, said a press statement.

Read: Hyderabad is now open defecation free, declares Centre