Bajura, November 28 Bajura was declared Open Defecation Free zone today. Now every household in the district has a toilet. The declaration came into effect following continuous efforts for the last two and a half years. As many as 59 districts in the country are yet to be declared ODF zones though.Local Development Officer Yubaraj Paudel, chairman of the District Drinking Water and Sanitation Coordination Committee, said that they had declared Bajura ODF zone after monitoring the entire district. Inaugurating the ODF declaration programme, UML central leader and former industry minister Karna Bahadur Thapa praised Bajura for its progress in sanitation. Engineer Rameshwor Ghimire said that although Bajura was considered to be on the bottom of Human Development Index, the district had climbed to 16th position in terms of sanitation. Only 17 per cent people in the district had access to toilets in 2011. Bajura correspondent of The Himalayan Times Prakash Sing was honoured by Bajura District Sanitation Coordination Committee for his contribution to make the ODF campaign a success through his news and articles. Singh had also participated in Fifth South Asian Sanitation Conference representing Bajura Sources: The Himalyan Times, 29 November 2014 News Clips