City now open defecation-free

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 29

The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has declared Chandigarh as an open defecation-free (ODF) city under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Local Municipal Corporation officials, along with Mayor Arun Sood, will receive the award in this connection from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a Swachh Bharat Saptah programme in New Delhi tomorrow.

Confirming the development, the Mayor said he, along with MC Commissioner B Purushartha, would go to New Delhi to receive the award. The credit for the ODF status for the city went to the efforts put in by MC and UT officials and city residents, he said. 

The Quality Council of India (QCI) granted the ODF status to the city after surveying as many as 73 cities. The survey, commissioned by the MoUD, checked the efforts of local bodies to ensure their cities were free of open defecation.

The local civic body had already declared various wards as ODF during the last two House meetings.