Bhubaneswar: While 26 states have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) and the national sanitation coverage has reached up to 98 per cent, Odisha is still struggling.
In Odisha, the overall coverage of sanitation is one of the worst – with construction of toilets at 77 per cent – as some of the districts in the state are still to catch up with the pace of toilet construction as per the targets. Latest figures from the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation till December 27 reveal that some of the districts in Odisha have not even touched their 50 per cent mark of the targets.
The ministry, which is the nodal agency for the Swachh Bharat Mission, claims that Kalahandi is still struggling with 46 per cent toilet coverage while other districts are also far from their target figures. Some of the performing districts include Mayurbhanj (55%), Koraput (62%) and Kendrapara (64%).
On the other hand, five districts in the state have achieved 100 per cent sanitation coverage. These are: Balasore, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal and Sambalpur. The government data claims that till now Odisha has 61, 12,942 households with toilets. However, Odisha has only four districts that have self-declared as ODF.
In terms of sanitation coverage, Odisha is now in the league of Goa which has not crossed 90 per cent mark. The state which has sanitation coverage of around 76 per cent now is yet to cover many villages under Swachh Bharat Mission.