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Despite the strong emphasis of government to make India Open Defecation free by 2019, open defecation is widespread in India. It is equally widespread in the State of Maharashtra. It is known that good health has a strong impact on the overall productivity of an individual. It is also known that good sanitation and hygiene conditions are prerequisites for good health. People are not willing to change their habits and behaviour for healthy sanitation practices. Despite repeated efforts of the government to change behaviour of people regarding the construction and toilet use of toilet, people are not changing their habits. This dissertation presents evidence from the survey data gathered from the urban areas of Dhule, Ahmednagar and Jalgaon cities in Maharashtra. Though Swachh Bharat Mission has made significant improvements in India’s sanitation levels, it faces many of the challenges faced by programs that preceded it. Infrastructure alone cannot encourage toilet use and maintenance of the same, because of factors such as availability of water, improper management of waste, etc. Further, behavioural change is required to encourage people to not only use toilets properly but to take an active part in keeping them accessible at all times. That is the only way to ensure that the sanitation issues faced by most people are being addressed as most of these facilities remain closed or inaccessible to their users in various areas. Even after a comprehensive policy that ensures regular monitoring of the services, cities fail to provide access to these services. What’s amiss? Where are the cities lagging, and what can be done?
Achieving an ODF status for India is a multi-layered challenge, and must be approached as such. Building the infrastructure is important, but there is a need for behavioural change, a sense of ownership, and proper maintenance of the facilities once provided, especially in tier II and tier III cities and below.
Key Words: ODF, Defecation, Sanitation, Behavioural change, Urban Sanitation, Toilets.
