South 24 Parganas to be declared ODF district in March

Come March, South 24 Parganas will be the country's first district to have the highest number of rural toilets.

The district will be declared Open Defecation Free district (ODF) in March with 6.86 lakh rural toilets, PB Salim, District Magistrate said on Thursday. Along with South 24 Parganas, Burdwan and Cooch Behar will be declared as ODF districts by March 31. It may be mentioned that Nadia was the first district in the country which was declared ODF on April 30, 2015.

After that, Hooghly, East Midnapore and North 24 Parganas have also been declared ODF. April 30 has been declared as Nirmal Bangla Divas when programmes will be held all over the state. However, it could not be observed in 2016 because of the Assembly elections.

It has also been decided by the Panchayat and Rural Development department to make South and North Dinajpur, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling ODF districts in 2017-18. The state government has decided to construct toilets in every rural home by October 2, 2019.

It may be mentioned that in the two-day Panchayat Sammelan held in Netaji Indoor Stadium on February 3 and 4, stress was given on the Nirmal Bangla Mission.

The department is carrying out a massive campaign all over the state requesting people to use toilets where they have been constructed. In Burdwan district, Soumitra Mohan, District Magistrate is leading a team that goes out early in the morning requesting people not to defecate in the open.

Subrata Mukherjee, minister for Panchayat and Rural Development department said that campaign was carried out on the maintenance ofthe toilets. "We are spending money to construct toilets but they will have to be maintained properly and for this, awareness is required.

The beneficiaries should understand that they will use the toilets and maintain them because without this non-maintenance of toilets, it will pose a serious threat and the whole effort will be futile."