Udupi to attain total sanitation soon

 
The project that cost Rs 1,308.04 lakhs covers as many as 146 Gram Panchayaths in the district and 78,176 families in the district without proper sanitation.

Speaking to Deccan Herald in-charge Deputy Commissioner Prasanna Kumar informed that only 26 Gram Panchayaths are left over in the district to be covered under the Central government sponsored programme adopted in the district in October 2005.

There are a total of 5,232 families without toilet facilities in these Gram Panchayaths and measures are taken to implement the programme in these Gram Panchayats, Prasanna Kumar informed.

The total sanitation programme involves two phases, one phase is entirely committed to family hygiene and the other is community hygiene.

Individualising the family hygiene programme involves organising awareness and house hold education programmes thereby convincing the importance of personal health and sanitation. Community hygiene programmes include the construction of community toilets, maintenance of hygiene in the surrounding areas and preventing the accumulation of dirt in the area.

The priority under the program is given to complete eradication of open defecation. Accordingly, Karkala Taluk has been adorned with the rating of ODF (Open Defecation Free) Block and is the recipient of Nirmala Block award.

Plans are envisaged to enable the entire district to be deemed as ODF district by the first week of September 2009.

About 29 Gram Panchayaths in Udupi, 12 in Kundapur and 29 in Karkala have received Nirmal Gram Purskar in the district.

Earlier, about Rs 1,200 has been given as subsidy for the construction of each toilet and now it has been enhanced to Rs 2,000.

Subsequent measure to tag on to the ODF programme is the action plan for the solid and liquid waste management programme under the provision. A blue print at the cost of Rs 4,197.65 lakhs is being chalked out and is sent for the approval.