Odisha govt notifies Urban Sanitation Policy

BHUBANESWAR: The Government of Odisha has notified the ‘Odisha Inclusive Urban Sanitation Policy – 2024’ to provide inclusive, equitable, safe and sustainable sanitation services to all urban citizens and to recognise sanitation as a basic human right.

The policy aims to provide inclusive, equitable, safe and sustainable sanitation services planned, managed, and delivered by the urban local bodies to all the citizens without any discrimination, informed the officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The policy intends to integrate into its sanitation services modern concepts such as circular economy, community partnership, disaster resilience and urban-rural convergence.

The government will also ensure that all the grey and black water generated from the urban area is collected and safely confined, transported, and disposed of only after adequate treatment. Civic bodies have also been directed to maintain the sanitation services and systems via the saturation of toiles, greywater management and FSTP infrastructure.

With the growth of the urban population at a decadal growth rate of 27 per cent, the government wants to ensure that its municipal services can catch up to the rising demand. The new policy aims to collect, transport, treat, and dispose of human faecal waste and reuse and recycle its byproducts in the ULBs.

The Urban Development Department will also focus on individual household toilets for the urban population while emphasising their operation and maintenance to ensure continued usage. The government will also work to increase their treatment capacity by adding new treatment facilities across all urban local bodies to ensure that untreated sewage is not discharged in the open.