Jammu And Kashmir Achieves ODF Plus Model Status In All Villages Under Swachh Bharat Mission

Jammu and Kashmir has declared all its 6,650 villages across 285 blocks in 20 districts as open defecation-free (ODF) Plus Model under the Swachh Bharat Mission, officials said on Saturday. This achievement goes beyond constructing and using toilets towards cleanliness by managing greywater and solid waste in each village, they said.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha congratulated the people of J-K for this achievement and said it underlines coordinated efforts of all to improve the quality of life for citizens. He also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his guidance and vision for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-2.

To achieve the ODF Plus Model status, a village has to go through three stages of ODF Plus – Aspiring, Rising and Model. A village is declared as an ODF Plus Model when it has achieved a clean environment with no litter or stagnant water and has proper systems for managing solid and liquid waste which also includes raising awareness among the people.

The officials said the rural sanitation department made a comprehensive plan involving all the shareholders in its implementation to achieve the milestone of becoming the first state in India to have 100 per cent solid and liquid waste management in rural areas. The department prepared Village Sanitation Saturation Plans (VSSP) for each village to ensure that they have the necessary facilities for managing solid and liquid waste, they said. 

For managing greywater, which is the water that comes from the kitchen and bathrooms, the department built soak pits, magic pits and leach pits at both household and community levels. They said that the department constructed 3,53,631 individual soak pits and 23,781 community soak pits to manage greywater.

The official said that for managing biodegradable waste, they built compost pits for both individual and community use. They stated that the department or the people themselves made 1,37,824 compost pits for individual households and 12,118 compost pits for community use. 

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They also said that they are setting up Plastic Waste Management Units (PWMU) in every block, which are almost done. These centres will clean, shred and pack the plastic for its final disposal. They said that they are taking care of the whole waste life cycle properly.

The officials said that J-K has done many creative campaigns and activities such as “Pink Toilets” to increase school attendance, Amarnath Yatra without any landfill, ‘Give Polythene Get Gold’ campaign, ‘pink societies’ for holistic development, Sarpanch Samvads, Swachhata internship, Swachhata quiz and Swachh Yodha Pratiyogita, during the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) campaign because of which all its villagers are now received ODF Plus Model status. 

(With inputs from news agency IANS)