Goa aims to be
To meet this target the government has proposed setting up 100 community toilets across the State.
Parsekar Friday morning met Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu, who reviewed the progress of works relating to the Swacch Bharat Mission. State government officials informed him regarding the status of ODF panchayats and municipalities.
“Government is in the process of preparing an action plan to ensure that Goa is cent percent ODF by December 2017,” Parsekar said after the meeting.
The Chief Minister said that as a step towards achieving ODF status, it was decided that around 100 sites across the State would be identified for construction of community-cum-public toilets on the lines of similar toilets in New Delhi.
“The Union Ministry has directed us to submit the proposal for funding. Also it was suggested that CSR funding opportunities for such toilet blocks may be explored in addition to funds available from central and state governments,” Parsekar said.
In another decision, the Ministry directed the State to identify projects that can be taken up via central funding for future development on water supply and sewerage system fronts. “State has already submitted a proposal to the Ministry covering raw water supply, water treatment facilities, replacement of old and ageing pipelines and sewerage facilities,” Parsekar said.
“We have been asked to submit a detailed project report on the proposals before October 15,” he added, stating that the Ministry has asked to explore the schemes of Power Ministry for solar powered pumping systems for water treatment plants.
Further, considering that in Goa the Below Poverty Line (BPL) population is less than 5 percent and the per capita income is twice the national average, the Ministry directed the State to explore possibilities for evolving model cost housing that would result in greater absorption of funds from existing government schemes.
