Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 25
With the aim to re-affirm the Swachh Bharat Mission commitment, an intensive three-phase countrywide cleanliness campaign was launched on Friday. Joining the rest of the nation, Nagaland also launched a parallel sanitation campaign in state capital today and will culminate on October 31.
“The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) is working towards making the entire Nagaland Open Defecation Free (ODF) by March 2018 under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM),” announced the PHED Chief Engineer, Kevisekho Kruse who graced the launching programme held at Hotel Japfü as the chief guest.
The official informed that out of the 1128 villages in the state, 246 have already become ODF villages as all these villages have household toilets. The remaining villages will be constructing their respective household toilets by March 2018, he said.
He pointed out that the state Governor PB Acharya had, under the Swachh Bharat Mission, appointed nine brand ambassadors to promote the mission across the state and make it a peoples’ movement. However, he maintained that sanitation and better hygiene should not be the concern of just the state government or the ambassadors but should be all encompassing with NGOs and village leaders involved in creating mass awareness among the general public.
Kruse said it is envisioned under SBM that enabling all the villages to construct toilets and promoting better sanitation practices will help in bringing about better health. He also stated that a healthy sanitation practice will also help improve the economic condition of the people.
The official asserted that the Swachh Bharat Mission should not be hampered due to lack of funds, and he called upon all the citizens of Nagaland to get involved. “Let us tell our family, neighbours and friends on better sanitation practices. Lets talk about sanitation,” he stated.
He also announced that under the mission, the PHED department would be constructing pay and use furnished toilets along all the highways connecting the different districts of the state. Pointing that the past mistake was a case of successful construction of public toilets but failure in usage and maintenance, Kruse acknowledged that proper water supply was also a deterrent factor in the past but the department will be trying its best to provide clean and running water to all these facilities.
Also talking about clean towns and villages in Nagaland, the official cited the examples of Mokokchung, Zapami village in Phek district and Khonoma village in Kohima district. He said these villages should be turned into model villages for others to emulate. Stating that it is a huge responsibility to make Nagaland a clean state, he urged upon all to become sanitation ambassadors.
Former MLA Supongmeren Jamir, who is also a brand ambassador of SBM appointed by the Governor, also spoke on the occasion and underscored the need for all the citizens of the state to come forward in extending support to the department and nodal agencies towards achieving the goal of clean India.
“Unless the citizens cultivate the habit of keeping their own surroundings, offices, schools and business establishments clean and healthy, it will be difficult to achieve the target,” he said.
With the Prime Minister himself getting involved in the movement, he said, we need to appeal to all our lawmakers, bureaucrats and administrators to come out and join this national project.
Supongmeren also urged upon the PHED and Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committees of the villages in the state to take up the responsibility of spreading the importance of sanitation and hygiene.
The function was chaired by Director Water and Sanitation Support Organisation Director, KG Sumi while SE Kohima Circle, Y Tep tendered the vote of thanks.
The month long sanitation campaign in the state will include poster campaign, SBM slot on AIR, stickers on 100 NST buses, sanitation messages on local TV networks, cleaning of office and school premises (on October 2), intensive sanitation consultancy in offices, blocks and villages, WATSAN to organize cleanliness drive in respective villages etc. The Urban Development department and the PHED are the two nodal departments of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
