State government has set a target of making all the villages in Nagaland Open Defecation Free (ODF) under Swachh Bharat Mission by March 2018.
Speaking at the launch of the Nationwide Sanitation campaign under Swachh Bharat Mission here on Friday, the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) chief engineer Kevisekho Kruse stated that out of 1128 villages in the state 246 villages have already been covered with toilet facilities.
Kruse asserted sanitation campaign should be a mass movement and urged every individual to take responsibility for sanitation as the task cannot be shouldered by any single individual or government agency alone.
According to chief engineer, the department was also working to provide well furnished toilet (pay and use) along the national highways and state highways for the benefit of the travellers.
He, however, reminded that the public should civic sense while using the facilities provided. Er. Kruse also challenged the gathering that the sanitation campaign would be a failure mission unless every citizen was involved. He further urged everyone to be an ambassador of sanitation campaign to make the mission a success.
One of the nine Swachh Bharat Mission brand ambassadors of Nagaland, Supongmeren Jamir, in his address, remarked that though Nagas were clean inside their respective house, they tend to be careless once they were out. He urged all responsible to inculcate healthy sanitation habits and create awareness about the importance of sanitation.
Jamir suggested that law makers, schools, district administration and others should be involved in the campaign to make it successful. Further, he suggested making some villages as model villages for sanitation, which could spread to others villages.
PHED, water and sanitation support organization (WSSO) director K.G. Sumi, who chaired the function, said the department has plans to spread awareness about sanitation in every part of the state through radio, local cable, vehicle stickers and awareness programmes in schools.
He informed that the intensive state-wide sanitation campaign would be carried out from September 25 till October 31.
At the end of the function, short video clips on sanitation were shown to the participants. Vote of thanks was proposed by Kohima circle PHED superintendent engineer Y. Tep. PHED officials, AMK, NMA, students, panchayat leaders, Rengma mothers association, SBM brand ambassadors and others attended the programme.