Urban-Rural Convergence On Faecal & Plastic Waste Management To Cover 7 Odisha Dists

Urban-Rural Convergence On Faecal & Plastic Waste Management To Cover 7 Odisha Dists

Urban-Rural Convergence On Faecal & Plastic Waste Management To Cover 7 Odisha Dists

Bhubaneswar: In the initial phase, the Urban-Rural Convergence on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSM) and Plastic Waste Management (PWM) would encompass seven districts in Odisha.

On Monday, the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water (PR&DW), UNICEF, and the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) signed a letter of understanding (LoU) in this regard.

In the districts of Angul, Balasore, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, and Sambalpur, the effort intends to promote district-wide sanitation through urban-rural convergence for FSM and PWM.

According to HUD Minister Pratap Jena, the programme would eventually be expanded to all of the state's districts. This action is a step in achieving Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's ambition of creating "Swachh Odisha and Sustha Odisha."

According to Jena, decentralised waste management has been adopted in 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Odisha.

For effective faecal sludge and plastic waste management, gramme panchayats will now be linked to urban facilities such as Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs) and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), which would strengthen both Panchayatiraj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). According to the Minister, this would also ensure the prevention of river and ground water pollution as well as environmental protection through a district-wide sanitation approach.

The government has operationalized 58 FSTPs, according to Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra, and all 114 ULBs would be covered by 118 operable plants by March 2022.

Principal Secretary, HUD G Mathi Vathanan; Principal Secretary, PRDW, Ashok Kumar Meena; President, CPR, Yamini Aiyer; Chief Field Officer, UNICEF Odisha, Monika Nielsen; and Director, Municipal Administration (DMA) and Mission Director (SBM-U) HUDD Sangramjit Nayak, among others, were in attendance.