Swachh Survekshan 2023 Big win for Mp

Staff Reporter

results of Swachh Survekshan 2023 have been officially announced by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. According to this, Indore, Bhopal, Mhow Cantt, Amarkantak, Naurojabad and Budhni of the State will be honoured at national level. Apart from this, Madhya Pradesh will also be honoured as a State. In Swachh Survekshan results released late on Saturday night, results of star rating of open defecation free ODF and garbage free cities have also been released. According to these results, cities of Madhya Pradesh have once again achieved a big achievement. 378 cities of Madhya Pradesh had participated in the Cleanliness Survey 2023. Number of bodies receiving ODF Double Plus certificate has now increased to 361. It was 324 till last year. Apart from this, six cities of the State have received the prestigious Water Plus certification for sewage management this year. Last year, only Indore and Bhopal cities of Madhya Pradesh had received this honour. Thus, now the cities of Indore, Bhopal, Dewas, Ujjain, Gwalior, Budhni and Dharampuri of the state have received this honour. To permanently stop open defecation in the state, individual toilets have been prepared and provided to more than 5,79,000 needy families of the state. Besides, more than 2,500 public toilet complexes have also been constructed in the State. Similarly, star rating of garbage free cities is also a prestigious certification. In which 158 cities of Madhya Pradesh had received this certification.

Last year only 99 cities had received this certification. Apart from this, Indore has got the status of 7 star city and Bhopal has got the status of 5 star city. It is noteworthy that Madhya Pradesh has been continuously working in the field of urban cleanliness for the last 5 years. Cleanliness is our pledge: Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has said that cleanliness is a resolution for us. We are taking this resolution forward by taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our cities are continuously working hard. Apart from this, our sanitation friends, common citizens and public representatives actively supported the cleanliness of the state. We are committed to the cleanliness, health and prosperity of the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav. This is just a beginning, we have to make joint and continuous efforts for this.

Best performance in star rating: Principal Secretary, Urban Housing and Development Department, Neeraj Mandloi has said that we have made continuous efforts to maintain the cleanliness of the state. We had laid emphasis on sanitation infrastructure development in the state, capacity building of the team and public participation. The state’s excellent performance in ODF and Star Rating results is inspiring us to do even better work. Hard work of cleaning friends and colleagues: Commissioner Urban Administration and Development Bharat Yadav has said that the teams, ‘Safai Mitras’ and associates of all our cities have worked very hard. Apart from this, citizens and public representatives extended their support. He congratulated the team of citizens, organisations, public representatives, colleagues and civic bodies. Mission Director Shivam Verma said on this achievement that we had emphasized on cooperation of the local bodies and public participation in our strategy. It is a matter of happiness that 361 bodies of the state have got ODF Double Plus, 7 Water Plus and 158 bodies have got star rating certification.

What is ODF certification?

ODF means freedom from open defecation, for this three indicators were created which we know as ODF Plus, ODF Double Plus and Water Plus. For ODF Plus certification, 100 percent construction of targeted individual toilets in the city, construction of community and public toilets along with 10 percent public toilets should have world class facilities and the remaining 90 percent should have all the basic facilities. For ODF Double Plus certification, 100 percent targeted construction of individual toilets, community and public toilets should be done along with 50 percent public toilets should have world class facilities and the remaining 50 percent should have all the basic facilities. Water Plus certification requires a city to fully implement the ODF Double Plus protocol as well as manage the water used in the city.