Bhubaneswar: The state capital has registered a 56 per cent leap in individual household latrine coverage over the past three-and-a-half years, adding another feather to the civic body's cap.

In 2014, the coverage was a mere 12 per cent, according to a Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) report.

"We have improved in constructing more household latrines. Our officials are regularly updating the data on the status on the Swachh Bharat Mission website," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

"Accordingly, the ministry has developed a dedicated dashboard to monitor our performance. The improvement in our coverage in this parameter can be ascertained from the dashboard and subsequent report," he said.

A review meeting chaired by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and Union drinking water and sanitation secretary Parameswaran Iyer at the secretariat last Wednesday highlighted the city achievements.

During this time, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation distributed hundreds of work orders for construction of individual household latrines, mainly in the city's rural wards.

Construction of individual household latrines is one of the important components under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Besides, construction of public and community toilets are also part of the open defecation-free initiatives.

"We have a rigorous system for scrutiny of the individual household latrine application. It is allotted based on the applicants' eligibility. We witnessed a surge in the number of applications in the past two years. Accordingly, the number of work orders issued also increased," said a civic official.

Deogarh is, so far, the state's district that has achieved the open defecation-free tag.

The housing and urban development department set the civic body a target of constructing 15,208 individual household latrines during 2015-16 and another 19,596 during 2016-17. Sources said the civic body had fulfilled the targets and was in the of to achieving the same for the current fiscal.

The department's decision to hike the incentives for construction of household latrines from Rs 5,333 to Rs 8,000 has also led to a surge in the number of applications. "People were not happy with the money they were getting to construct the toilets and, as a result, we decided to hike it," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.