A new feather in GHMC cap

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been certified by the Swatchh Bharat Mission as open urination-free (ODF) and scientific treatment of faecal sludge through sewage treatment plants) on January 28. As per the ODF protocol and norms, the recertification happens every six months. Accordingly, GHMC has completed its field inspection for ODF++ certification on January 19 and 20.

Open urination is an area of concern in every city; it is not just provision of toilets, but its maintenance assumes primacy. Unless toilets are neat and tidy, people are reluctant to use them.The mission has allotted 200 marks to Hyderabad. The Quality Control Teams of India of the mission and a third party undertook widespread tours and inspections in the city in the second week of this month after the GHMC submitted proposals. The teams inspected 271 public toilets and 18 toilets.

A survey has judged one of the 18 toilets as ‘clean,’ 12 as ‘excellent’ and 5 as ‘outstanding’, particularly in areas like Beerappagadda, Kukatpally, Viveknagar, Mee-Seva Complex, B R K Bhavan and Madhapur police station limits.The touring teams revealed that all community and individual toilets in the city are accessible based on the declaration given by the Ward members, SHG members and residents (in commercial areas).

The GHMC has constructed several categories of toilets across the city like BOT (built operate transfer), Prefabricated, Sulabh, Engineering and SHE toilets (e-toilets). It has convinced 259 fuel stations and 280 restaurants in the twin cities and their outskirts to give access to their toilets for public use free. It proposes to install 50 SHE toilets with an amount of Rs. 3.91 crore funded by various organisations under corporate social responsibility (CSR). 

The civic body has decided to set up 178 integrated smart washrooms (toilets) free of cost across the city (luxurious washrooms with ATM). It has invited tenders to take up the project in build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. To tackle the large burden of untreated faecal waste, The Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has established 18 faecal sludge and septage plants across the twin cities. Moreover, taking the lead, the board has also made the 18 STPs in such a way that it can facilitate co-treatment of septage. 

A beaming M Dana Kishore, the GHMC Commissioner, told the media that the head office had received a e-mail on Monday night on the ODF ++ (ODF++ means open defecation-free double ranking) on the certificate awarded to the City. He said last year also the City had received ODF+ every six months. ‘Getting the award is really an achievement,’ Dana Kishore quipped. The commissioner stated that Indore, Chandigarh and Hyderabad had been declared ODF ++.

In this regard he held discussions with Chief Secretary S K Joshi and senior officials who have expressed their satisfaction over the achievement, by HMWS&SB and GHMC in coordination with the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI). The GHMC plans to take up an awareness campaign among the citizens, increasing the existing toilets to get good results, with public involvement, which is a must.

The campaign will be on from February first week. Also it is taking up electronic monitoring deploying Nano cars with CCTV cameras to know facts about maintenance of toilets, imposing fines, identifying the need to provide toilets for the convenience of the citizens.