The Union Urban Development Ministry has appointed Royal Haskoning DHV, an independent project management consultancy company to prepare a detailed sustainable sanitation plan for Panaji that will be able to address all the civic problems for the next 35 years.
This plan, to be implemented subsequently in other parts of Goa, comes close on the heels of the state’s target of declaring it 100% sanitation zone by the end of this year. The sanitation infrastructure of the city would also be revamped totally under this plan.
The sustainable sanitation plan is a part of the urban water supply and sanitation scheme of the Union Urban Development Ministry. The Ministry has just made it mandatory for all cities in India to prepare sanitation, hygiene and clean practice plans for the future to tackle urban sprawl. Goa has achieved only 85% of sanitation coverage. The open defecation continues in the state. The urban poor and women still lack facility of in-house toilets. The plan aims to make available hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities to them in Panaji first and all other cities of Goa subsequently.
