ODF drive earns Vizianagaram a place in Limca Book of Records  

The district has added another feather to its cap by figuring in the Limca Book of Records for building 10,000 toilets in a record 100 hours.
ODF drive earns Vizianagaram a place in Limca Book of Records  

VIZIANAGARAM: Having achieved a remarkable improvement in the sanitation front by implementing mass grounding of lavatories at individual households, the Vizianagaram district has added another feather to its cap by figuring in the Limca Book of Records for building 10,000 toilets in a record  100 hours.

The programme was undertaken by the district administration between March 10 and 14 last year during which around 10,449 toilets were built in the targeted time in 71 villages of which of which 44 were declared as open defecation free (ODF).

Around  20,000 masons and labourers, and 3,000 employees worked round the clock in the presence of the representative of the Limca Book of Records. The drive was also found a mention in Prime  Minister Narendra Modi’s radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’.   

On January 8, the Limca Book of Records released its latest records in which the Vizianagaram sanitary drive was included. The collector conducted a felicitation programme, celebrating the success as part of the ongoing Sankranthi Sambaralu on Saturday.

With innovative plans,  the administration has implemented mass grounding of toilet drives in the last one year, with an aim of achieving the ODF status for the district by March 31 this year.

And the results are overwhelming. The district which had 11.42 per cent of its total households with toilet facilities, has now IHHLs in 73.37 per cent of houses. Vizianagaram district which was ranked second last among the 13 districts in the State, with 21.8 per cent households having toilets before the drive was launched, has now achieved 20th rank at the national level under Swachh Bharat Mission.  

The collector dedicated the achievement to the people of Vizianagaram, public representatives and officials.  “We could make it because of the unparallel support extended by from the Chief Minister and the people’s representatives. The mass grounding of toilets has yielded good results, improving the ODF ranking. We are committed to achieving the ODF status for the entire district by mid-February,” said collector Vivek Yadav.

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