All slum clusters in the Capital would be open defecation-free by March 31, 2018, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the community toilet complexes constructed by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) at a slum cluster in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, the Chief Minister said that the government would construct similar facilities in all slums by the end of this financial year.
Tweeting later in the day, Mr. Kejriwal said that the opening of new community toilet complexes at slums was an important step for women’s safety as women residents were earlier forced to defecate in the open.
Women’s safety
“After CCTV cameras in buses, this is another step to ensure women safety, [sic]” he tweeted.
On Thursday, the DUSIB opened 810 community toilets spread over 21 complexes in the city, taking the number of toilets constructed by the agency in the past 28 months to 10,583.
Mr. Kejriwal said that the toilets at the slum cluster near the railway line at Jal Vihar in Lajpat Nagar were made after the Railways gave permission.
To make the slum, which has 1,310 jhuggies , open defecation-free, the DUSIB had set up a 110-seater prefab toilet complex.
Till now, the residents of the slum were forced to relieve themselves near the railway track.
Among the other locations where new toilet complexes were inaugurated on Thursday are Okhla DTC Depot, Sudhir Camp in Kalkaji, Kalander Colony near Bhalswa Dairy, Dalit Camp in Dakshinpuri, K-Block Manglopuri, slum cluster at B-Block Paschim Vihar and Kamla Nehru Camp at Kirti Nagar.
