State to have own urban sanitation policy

Under this policy,urban sanitation plans will be made for all the cities in the state and an urban sanitation strategy will be chalked out for successful implementation of the policy.

To begin with,four cities — Lucknow,Agra,Varanasi and Allahabad — have been selected to implement the policy.

“The policy aims to provide hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities in urban areas and improve cleanliness,” said Alok Ranjan,Principal Secretary of Urban Development.

Suggestions will be taken from public representatives,NGOs,intellectuals and the locals in framing the policy,Ranjan said.

The local bodies have been directed to send the details of the required sanitation facilities like community toilets

in their areas as per the the population.

Rekha Gupta,Director of Local Bodies,said: “A baseline data is being collected from the local bodies about the requirement of sanitation facilities in cities as well as slums.”  

A task force will be made in every local body to collect the details and survey the localities,particularly slums that are near the sewage trunk lines. Areas where digesters or community toilets could be made for a group of houses will also be identified in the survey.  

The state government will also identify the resources from where funds will be generated for availing sanitation facilities in urban areas.

“The government will look for funds from urban development schemes like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM),Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) and Low Cost Sanitation Scheme,” said an official.  

Officials of urban local bodies have been advised to visit Kalyani in West Bengal,which has been declared as ‘Open defecation free city’ and learn how cities in the city could follow suit.