Mangaluru : Dakshina Kannada will be the first district to have open defecation-free urban local bodies, according to Eshwar B. Khandre, Minister of State for Municipal Administration and Public Enterprises.

Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, the Minister said that urban local bodies of Mangaluru, Puttur and Belthangady have been declared as open defecation-free now. There is some issue with Moodbidri Town Municipal Council which would be settled in a month. Once it is addressed, all urban local bodies in the district would be open defecation-free, leading in the State. If issues in gram panchayats were addressed by that time, the entire Dakshina Kannada could be declared open defecation-free.

To a question on sewage from Bantwal and BC Road joining the Netravathi on the upstream of Thumbe vented dam supplying drinking water to the city, the Minister said that a public faecal sludge treatment could be set up to address the issue. It would cost ₹ 1 crore. Officials were studying it. It could be the solution till the entire town was covered with underground sewage network and a sewage treatment plant.

He said that Dakshina Kannada has been allotted ₹ 81 crore in the third phase of Nagarottana Yojane for nine urban local bodies, excluding Mangaluru City Corporation.

Those local bodies have been instructed to prepare a detailed project report within a month and invite bids to take up the works. About 95 % of works taken up in the second phase of the yojane have been completed in the district.

The Minister said that migration of people to urban areas was increasing and accordingly, there was an urgency to create infrastructure facilities in the jurisdiction of urban local bodies.

He said that the urban local bodies of Vitla and Kotekar have been facing shortage of land for landfill sites. Vitla had one acre land now against the demand for five to 10 acres. Kotekar had three acres now against the requirement for five acres. The issue has been taken up with the Revenue Department, he added.