In the run-up to World Toilet Day on November 19 next, the East Kameng (Arunachal Pradesh) district administration in collaboration with the Public Health Engineering and Water Supply Department has launched various activities such as awareness rallies, waste collection, etc., that will be carried out at block level till the said date.
Commenting on the activities planned, Deputy Commissioner Gaurav Singh Rajawat said that the event would be held at all the Gram Panchayats under East Kameng district. “Mass Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns will be conducted by paying door-to-door visit and encouraging people to make it a practice of using toilets which would be a key factor for its sustainability,” he said.
He also briefed the villagers about how important it is to maintain a hygienic lifestyle by owning a sanitary toilet and emphasised for weekly cleanliness drive at each Gram Panchayats by their community members. Among the scheduled activities are village- level awareness generation rallies on swachhata, introduction of twin pit technology, waste collection and segregation drives among households and public spaces and the like. The programme will culminate with a celebration of World Toilet Day on November 19 at the block level.
The East Kameng district which is home to 139 Gram Panchayats was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) on December 31, 2017 after construction of 6616 Individual Household Toilets (IHHLs) in the previous year.