A total of 1,319 cities have been certified as Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF+) and 489 cities have been certified ODF++ (Open Defecation Free Plus Plus) in the country so far, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said.
ODF+ and ODF++ are aimed towards the proper maintenance of toilet facilities and safe collection and disposal. While ODF+ focuses on toilets with water, maintenance and hygiene, ODF++ focuses on toilets with sludge and septage management.
To ensure accessibility of public sanitation facility to every citizen, the government has mapped over 59,900 public toilet blocks across 2,900+ cities which are searchable today on Google Maps till the date.
So far, over 62 lakh individual household toilets and over 5.9 lakh community/public toilets have been constructed, the Minister said while addressing an event through video conference.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs earlier said since its launch in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) has made significant progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. A total of 4,327 urban local bodies have been declared open defecation free (ODF) so far.