The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development recently tabled its report on the performance of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) in Lok Sabha.
Despite the fact that work on three protocols under the next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban-2) — ODF+, ODF++ and Water Plus — is to be completed by 2024, the ground situation was not matching with the assigned timeline.
Out of 4,320 cities declared ODF, as low as 1,276 cities have been certified as ODF+.
The number of ODF++ cities — 411 — means that less than 10 per cent cities are certified as ODF++ so far.
ODF+ and ODF++ were launched in August 2018 to further scale up and sustain the work undertaken by the cities after achieving the ODF status under Phase I of the Swachh Bharat Mission — Urban (SBM-Urban).
Cities that had been certified ODF at least once, on the basis of the ODF protocols, are eligible to declare themselves as SBM-ODF+ & SBM-ODF++.
While ODF+ focuses on toilets with water, maintenance and hygiene, ODF++ focuses on toilets with sludge and septage management.
Announced in August 2019, Water Plus aims to sustain toilets by treating and reuse of water.
It contributes to the government’s focus on water conversation and reuse under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan and is in alignment with United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goal No 6 on clean water and sanitation.
Under Phase 1 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (U), 99 per cent of the cities became ODF, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had claimed in December 2019.