Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 30: As part of on-going initiative by Directorate of Urban Local Bodies, Jammu, six more Urban Local Bodies– Samba, Banihal, Bari Brahmna, R S Pura, Ramban and Bhaderwah have been declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF) by Quality Council of India (QCI).
With this, the total number of ODF certified Urban Local Bodies in Jammu Province has gone up to 10. Earlier, Doda, Lakhanpur, Vijaypur and Thathri achieved ODF status in the last QCI audit of Government of India.
This major feat was achieved after a team of QCI visited these ULBs and conducted a rigorous audit of these ULBs as per the guidelines under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The audit not only consisted of technical evaluation but also field visits were made to the identified open defecation hotspots of these towns.
The QCI team also verified self-declaration status of all schools located in these ULBs. The QCI audit team also interacted with Water and Sanitation Committees constituted by respective Executive Officers for extending social support and mobility for undertaking ODF related awareness among local citizens.
Sushma Chauhan, Director Department of Urban Local Bodies Jammu said that this was a consolidation of efforts made by entire team of these ULBs, with technical support from Directorate and SWM team from PDMC AMRUT unit of M/s IPE Global Ltd.
She informed that public notification of self-declaration status of seven more ULBs has already been published and shortly a technical team from QCI will visit these towns to conduct their audit for ODF and it is hoped that these towns will also be able to meet ODF criteria of QCI and certified for same.
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