Nagaland minister urges urban development department to create

Nagaland minister Jacob Zhimomi on Wednesday urged the urban development department to create mass awareness on the harmful effects of open defecation.

The minister of public health engineering department, while launching a six-week long cleanliness drive - Swachhta Hi Sewa (SHS) - here, said that a mass movement in necessary to save the environment.

He pointed out that the Nagaland government has declared the rural areas as Open Defecation Free (OFD) on October 2, 2018, much ahead of the national declaration.

Zhimomi also expressed hope that the urban development department would continue creating awareness on the harmful effects open defecation.

The minister also assured of all possible support during the drive.

The drive aims at fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's dream for a clean India by mobilising the masses, said Thangi Mannen, a retired bureaucrat-turned-cleanliness campaigner.

The cleanliness drive which was launched on Wednesday will continue till October 27, wherein a large-scale awareness and mass mobilization of plastic waste collection will be undertaken, she said.

The UD department, in collaboration with all the urban local bodies of the state, is working towards achieving Urban Nagaland ODF before October 2, the Joint Secretary of Urban Development, Elizabeth Ngully, said.