Nearly 60.50 lakh household toilets built under Swachh Bharat

Nearly 60.5 lakh individual households toilets have so far been constructed across the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said Monday.

According to the ministry, around 4.7 lakh public toilet seats have been constructed so far. The target set under the mission was 5.07 lakh public toilet seats.

On the occasion of the "World Toilet Day", the government also released Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cleaning of sewers and septic tanks for field staff who respond to sewer overflows or spills.

More than 12,000 public toilets have been built in Delhi since 2015, the ministry said.

Speaking at an event here, HUA Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said 19 states and UTs were already Open Defecation Free (ODF) in their urban areas.

"This has been achieved by the construction of nearly 60.53 lakh individual household toilets (against a mission target of 66 lakhs; i.e. 91.7% constructed and under-construction against target)," Mishra said in an official statement.