The first day of 2018 brought good news to the residents of north
Delhi with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation declaring all 104 wards
under its jurisdiction open defecation-free.

“The North
Corporation has been declared open defecation-free since December 31,
2017. Our area has adequate number of community and public toilets as
per the yardstick of Swachh Bharat Mission,” said North Delhi Mayor
Preety Agarwal.

Ms. Agarwal added that there are 314 Community Toilet Complexes (CTCs), with 3,508 seats for men and 3, 232 seats for women.

Apart
from these, there are a total of 2,063 seats for men and 3,256 seats
for women available in public toilets, including the ones at petrol
pumps, restaurants, metro stations and Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
markets falling in the areas under the civic body’s jurisdiction.

“Our
job does not end here, we have also issued instructions to public and
private agencies in our area to allow the general public to use their
washrooms. We also have ample number of urinals in crowded areas and are
constructing new ones from time to time,” Ms. Agarwal said.

‘Maintaining cleanliness’

The
Mayor added that though the toilets have been constructed, keeping them
clean and maintaining them is a process that needs to be carried out by
both the civic body and the people. “All the toilets have been uploaded
on Google Maps, using which people can locate their closest toilets,”
she said.

North Corporation commissioner Madhup Vyas said that all
the officials of the corporation have an important role to play in
achieving this target. “We have not only constructed new toilets but
also undertaken mass public movement for stoppage of open defecation and
beautifying public places,” Vyas said.

He also stressed upon the need of waste segregation at source. “We have been moving forward with our campaign of
Roko Toko Seeti Bajao
, to encourage public participation,” he said.