A day before commencement of Swachh Survekshan-2020, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared the Capital an open defecation-free (ODF) ++ city. BMC Administrator and Director of Municipal Administration Sangramjit Nayak stated the ODF++ status will be open for third party verification following the declaration. Nayak also pinned hope that the Smart City will do better in the Swachh Survekshan this year.
ODF++ status is accorded to a city where not a single person is found defecating and, or urinating in the open, all community and public toilets are functional and well maintained, faecal sludge and sewage are safely managed and treated with no discharge or dumping of untreated in drains, water bodies or open areas at any point of a day.
As many as 4,830 urban local bodies will participate in the survey to be carried out by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs across the country from January 4. The total mark for the survey is 6,000 of which 25 per cent will be given to cities on the basis of the performance in Swachh Survekshan League 2020 held in three different quarters last year.