Rural sanitation coverage rises 89% under Swachh Bharat

The Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) progress report conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has said that India's rural sanitation coverage escalated to 89.07 percent till August 2.

Under SBM-G, 19 states and Union Territories were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). 7.9 crore toilets were built, while 421 districts were declared ODF. Also, more than 4.9 lakh villages in the country were declared ODF.

The WHO study showed that before the initiation of SBM-G, unsafe sanitation caused 199 million cases of diarrhoea annually. By 2019, the initiative aims to achieve 100 percent sanitation coverage.

The SBM resulted in averting three lakhs of death cases caused by diarrhoea and protein-energy malnutrition over a period of four years. As per the study before the launching of the initiative, only Kerala had achieved 100 percent sanitation coverage out of the 29 states.

Moreover, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) were estimated to be avoided between 2014 and 2019. A rapid survey on children and families was carried out by the WHO. The method opted was comparative risk assessment (CRS).

Launched in 2014 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central Government, the Swachh Bharat Mission aims at making India ODF by 2019.