Berhampur, Oct. 5: Kasinagar block in Gajapati district became the state's first open defecation-free block. Chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati made the announcement after he installed a plaque inside the block office on Sunday.

"We started this campaign on February 2 last year and achieved success in eight months owing to sincere efforts of the sarpanch, self-help groups (SHGs) as well as the public," said Akula Mallick, Kasinagar block development officer Akula Mallick.

The revenue divisional commissioner (south) Sanjay Kumar Singh credited the women of Kasinagar for the achievement.

"This is an important lesson from the people of Kasinagar to people in other parts of the state about the advantages of having toilets in every house," Singh said.

District collector Mansi Nimbhal credited everybody involved in the "Mo Swachha Souchalaya" campaign in Kasinagar.

"The state government has set a target for a total open defecation free (ODF) Odisha by December, 2017. Kasinagar has created a unique identity in the history of the state," she said.

In July, the Lanjia Saura tribe-dominated Luhangara under Nuagarh block in Gajapati had became the first ODF panchayat in Odisha.

"We made it possible and the Lanjia Saura tribe celebrated the event in Kudinda village, one of the most inaccessible villages of Luhangara panchayat," said Prakash Kumar Sahu, a member of the district resource team and a fellow member of the Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellowship.

The programme is presently being implemented in 78 Maoist-hit districts of the country, including Gajapati.

"This panchayat is situated 62km from the district headquarters and consists of more than 1,000 households. We helped them to construct 540 toilets at a cost of Rs 12,000 each," Sahu said.

Kabita Sabar, a graduate and first-time sarpanch belonging to the Lanjia tribe, said she had no idea that open defecation invites diseases. "Toilets are the only remedy and we must realise it," she said.