Four more districts to become open defecation free: HK Patil

Bengaluru:  Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H K Patil assured that four more districts will become free from open defecation by January 30th.

While speaking to the media persons on Thursday, HK Patil said that, “Presently, 16 districts are free from open defecation in the state. The number of districts free from open defecation will increase to 20 by January 30”.

The four districts which will be open defecation free are Chamarajanagar, Chikballapur, Koppal, and Mysuru where construction of toilets is in progress. The constructions of the toilet in these districts will be completed by January 30^th.

Covering 97 taluks and 3,454 gram panchayats and 17,536 villages, the state government has constructed 37.22 lakh toilets in 16 districts, as part of Swachh Bharat Mission. 18 lakh more toilets are needed for Karnataka to achieve 100% open defecation free state.

In the year 2017, 11 districts out of 30 in Karnataka achieved 100% targets and these districts are considered as free of open defecation. They are Shivamogga, Chikkamagalu, Mandya, Ramanagaram, Kolar, Hassan, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bengaluru Urban and Bengauru Rural.

However, the progress of toilets construction is not up to the expectations in Vijayapura, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Raichuru, and Yadgir districts.