ODF project: 41,000 toilets constructed

Construction is done in 10 districts of the province during the first phase

LAHORE:

The Public Health Engineering Department has constructed 41,000 toilets under the 'Open defecation-free Punjab project' in 10 districts of the province during the first phase.

As per the official sources, the department had carried out the ODF project successfully in the province to develop a healthy environment.

The sources said that during the first phase, two million people were given awareness through a campaign via mass media, print, and social media besides fixing messages on key points of villages. He said the ODF evaluation was being carried out by the district ODF evaluation committees.

Project’s Phase-II would start in the current month in districts where planning for the project is already under way, adding that the government had sanctioned Rs125 million per year for the project.

Under the three-year programme, the Punjab government, in collaboration with the UNICEF, will construct around two hundred thousand toilets for around 1.3million population in at least 1,775 villages across the province.

The government has chosen districts on the basis of Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey 2018, which includes Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Lodhran, Bhakkar, Khushab, Chiniot and Jhang.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2021.