Mumbai, Oct 14 (Business Standard): Maharashtra government is determined to make all cities open defecation free by 2017, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday.

"We are determined to make all cities open defecation free by 2017. But it's possible only when 'Swachh Maharashtra' becomes a people's movement," he said at a function here.

Fadnavis felicitated chairmen of municipal councils and authorities of 100 open defecation free cities of Maharashtra on the occasion.

He also launched a brand 'Harit Maha City Compost' and released some books on cleanliness.

During the programme, some MoUs were signed with NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Delivering Change Foundation for various initiatives on 'Swachh Maharashtra'.

"We have suffered a lot due to non-planning of cities. But still we can take it as an opportunity and move forward with people's participation.

"We need to plan the future and development projects, taking into consideration the environmental aspects and a lot of thrust is needed on waste management," Fadnavis said.