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DIMAPUR — A total of 483 villages in Nagaland have been declared open defecation free (ODF) plus out of more than 5 lakh villages in the country with creation of various solid liquid waste management assets.
Out of the 483 villages declaring ODF Plus villages, 130 were aspiring villages, 45 were rising villages and 308 model villages. This was informed by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on December 21.
The minister mentioned that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) (SBM-G) Phase-II was being implemented with effect from 2020-21 with the focus on ODF sustainability and to make solid and liquid waste management (SLWM) arrangements in all villages of the country to transform the villages from ODF to ODF Plus by 2024-25.
Chandrasekhar mentioned that the community-level SLWM activities were funded under SBM Phase-II which included management of bio-degradable wastes through composting or bio-gas plants, construction of storage/ segregation centres for non-biodegradable (plastic) waste, setting up of plastic waste management units at block/ district level, management of grey water through soak pits/ leach pits/ magic pits, wherever possible or through other grey water management technologies such as waste stabilisation ponds, constructed wetlands etc., wherever required and feasible and faecal sludge management (FSM), wherever needed, through co-treatment in existing sewage treatment plant (STP)/ faecal sludge treatment plant (FSTP) facilities in nearby urban/rural areas or trenching or by setting up of FSTP.
According to data from the state's online integrated management system (IMIS) of SBM, Nagaland has established multiple assets for solid liquid waste management (SLWM) under SBM Phase-II as of December 15, 2023. Those assets included 673 community compost pits, a fleet of 612 vehicles designated for waste collection and transportation, 2155 waste collection and segregation sheds, 1666 community soak pits/leach pits/magic pits, 127 community grey water management systems and 9 Plastic Waste Management Units (PWMU).
The minister further mentioned that the allocated central funds for the year 2022-2023 under SBM amounted to INR 39.44 crore, of which INR 19.72 crore has been released thus far.
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