With Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu all set to declare the temple city of Tirupati as an ‘Open Defecation-Free’ (ODF) city from October 2, the focus of the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) has shifted mainly to the railway tracks.
MCT Commissioner V. Vinaychand and a team of South Central Railway (SCR) officials led by Senior Liaison Officer K. Satyanarayana walked along the railway track for a huge 10 km distance from Padmavathi Nagar in the west to Uppangi to the east, passing via the Tirupati railway station.
As railway tracks are the first place of abuse for open defecation, he cautioned the railway staff to alert the perpetrators about the social stigma as well as the changed legal situation.
The MCT authorities have got the records on houses without toilets in the corporation limits verified and sanctioned the same.
Similarly, community toilets are to be built at a distance of 500 metres from the houses that do not have space for individual toilets. There are plans to build public toilets in commercial areas for every km and the denizens will be made to adhere to rules.
Mr. Vinaychand has already appointed special officers for crucial wards comprising the bus station, railway station, slums, residential colonies and commercial zones to create awareness among the public on the ill-effects of open defecation.
