Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu today launched ‘Swachh Suvekshan-2017’ to assess and rank 500 cities and towns based on levels of sanitation and efforts made by respective urban local bodies and also to capture progress towards achieving ‘Open Defecation Free’ status. The Minister also released in New Delhi today various publications and mobile applications to help the 500 cities and towns prepare for the survey to be conducted in January next year.
A web portal ‘Swachhata App’ and ‘Swachhta Helpline 1969’ to enable citizens associate more and more with Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas was also launched. Citizens can post photos of unhygienic places in urban areas on Swachh Aap and they will be informed of action taken by respective urban local bodies in specific time period. Using toll free Helpline Number 1969, citizens can seek information about the ways of participating in cleanliness mission and can also enquire the status of their applications for construction of toilets.
Shri Naidu informed that since the first Swachh Survekshan Survey among 73 cities with population of million and above each in January this year, 115 cities have become ‘Open Defecation Free’ and another 793 cities and towns are set to become so by March next year. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will become ODF by March, 2017.
The Minister stated that since the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission in October, 2014, construction of 21 lakh household individual toilets has been completed and construction of another 21 lakh toilets is in progress. The mission target in this regard is construction of 1.04 cr toilets by 2019.
Quality Council of India which conducted the last Survey in 73 cities will conduct the survey in 500 cities and towns.
