Gopalpur: It’s time to work dedicatedly and wholeheartedly to make Odisha the cleanest state of the nation. In order to achieve this milestone all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have to put best efforts without leaving any stone unturned. The state Government will extend all support to the ULBs to achieve this goal. This is said by Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, Special Secretary and Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

A zonal level workshop on Swachha Survekshan has been held at Gopalpur by Housing and Urban Development Department for all the ULBs under Southern Revenue Divisional. The Municipal Commissioners, Executive Officers along with the Engineers and other sanitation officials from thirty eight ULBs participated in the workshop.

Swachh Survekshan is one of the most important National Level Urban Sanitation Survey, which is conducted annually by Government of India with third party assessment to evaluate the quality of services being delivered by ULBs.

Delivering the introductory speech Binaya Kumar Dash, Additional Secretary and Additional Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission appealed the ULBs to increase the quality and efficiency of sanitation services delivered to citizens and also to increase people’s participation in every aspect of the sanitation services.

Durgesh Nandini Sahoo, Additional Secretary and Additional Mission Director presented the performance of the Urban Local Bodies in last year’s Swachh Survekshan and the gaps to be addressed by them to perform better in the ensuing assessment. Similarly, Rabindra Kumar Sahu, Additional Secretary and Additional Mission Director explained various aspects of used water management.

Binay Kumar Dash, Additional Secretary and Additional Mission Director also elaborated in detail the various modalities of assessment for this year’s Swachh Survekshan and how to make the Urban Local Bodies ready for better performance in the forthcoming assessment.