Telangana leading in Swacch Bharat

As per the census report 2011 91.12 percent of urban HHs in Telangana have access to toilets as compared to national figure of 81.4 percent. Open Defecation in Urban Households of Telangana is 8.98 % which is lower than the national average of 12.6%.

The Govt of India has launched the flagship program Swachh Bharat Mission with the vision of ensuring hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the nation as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019.

Sanitation improvement faces a challenge for demand creation and people’s initiative to construct and use toilets, urban sanitation improvement is dependent to a great extent. The challenge of access to toilets arises for a variety of social and economic factors and not simply from individual behavioral resistance.

Access to toilet and usage is the most important aspect of sanitation. Besides, restoration of dignity, privacy, safety and social status, sanitation has strong bearings on child mortality, maternal health, water quality, gender equity, reduction of hunger and food security, environmental sustainability and ultimately poverty alleviation & improvement of overall quality of life.

Open defecation is still in practice in many urban areas resulting in serious social, health, economic and environmental problems. Openly left human waste helps in breeding and transmission of pathogens, which carry diseases and infections.

Government of has launched the Swachh Telangana Mission with a goal of achieving “Open defecation free cities” by 2019 in line with the above vision.

Elimination of open defecation is one of the key components of the Swachh Telangana Mission. In order to achieve open defecation free towns, ensuring adequacy through construction of toilets –individual, community and public toilets and effective operations and maintenance is the strategic approach which the scheme emphasizes. However, awareness and IEC are equally important components that provide the base for implementing the project.

The Telangana government sought fresh proposals on parks, market yards, vegetable and meat markets, dumping yards and burial grounds in towns and municipalities under Swacch Telangana programme and aims to implement " Mission Bhagreetha" to supply 135 liters safe drinking water to each person, bus stations, railway stations and government offices. It also provide shelter in 560 sq yds for slum dwellers and poor in the State.

According to the Central government, the Telangana state is leading in the Swachh Bharat program launched union government led by Prime minister Narendra Modi, many municipalities in the state have performed well in the implementation of the Swachh Telangana program, which was launched as a subsidiary of the Swachh Bharat program. Eleven municipalities from the state are implementing garbage collection and recycling programs as part of the Swachh Bharat campaign. In Sircilla, Siddipeta, Gajwel, Vemulawada and Warangal urban local bodies, the authorities have set up dry-resources collection centers as well.

The center is organizing a meeting with all states to review the status of the program, which is supervised by Swachh Bharat Mission on January 19,2016. The representaitves from all states will take part in the meeting. The center will fix fresh targets for all the states with a deadline of March 31,2016 under the mission.

On flip side, Swacch Hyderabad Mission which intended to make the city clean. An RTI enquiry reveals that a large part of the money was spent in publicity funding official tours and even high-end meetings by GHMC. RTI also reveals that over Rs 1 crore was spent on the launch programme of Swacch Hyderbad Mission and over Rs.13 lakh spent on MLAs tours to Delhi and Nagapur to study solid waste managment and Rs.34 lakh spent on hoardings and flex for Swacch Hyderabad campaign and Rs.40 lakh spent on T-shirts and caps used in campaigning and over Rs.9 lakh spent of AC buses for tours.

The State has big plans to improve the civic infrastructure in order to make Hyderabad as Global City. But the mission can only be achieved with judicious use of money.

G.Rajendera Kumar