Five hundred and five new community toilets would be constructed in Berhampur to end open defecation in the city.
In a meeting of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), it was decided that efforts would be made to make all these proposed community toilets functional by the end of March 2017. Local elected representatives from different wards would identify the spots where these community toilets would be established.
As per city sanitation plan of 2011, around 59.5 per cent of residents of Berhampur opt for open air defecation which has become a major health hazard. According to 2011 Census, around 33 per cent of total population of Berhampur lives in slums. The city sanitation plan of Berhampur accepts that only three per cent of slum dwellers use community toilets in their area. Even the non-slum dwellers are also involved in open air defecation as they do not have toilets in their homes. Around 15.1 per cent of non-slum dwellers of Berhampur do not have toilet facility in their homes.
Social activist Bibhu Prasad Sahu, who works with slum dwellers of Berhampur, space for open air defecation has also come down in the city with rapid urbanisation. At present banks of ponds and tanks within city limits are being used, which raises chances of water pollution, he added.
As per findings of Children’s Federation of slum children of Berhampur and youth organisation Youth for Social Development, number of community public toilets is also too low in the city. There are 24 community toilets in 13 out of 40 wards of the city. Almost half of them do not have proper water supply and lack proper cleaning due to which they are also not used to their full capacity. Some public toilets have also become defunct.
