Swachh Bharat: State warns districts lagging behind in toilet construction

Kolkata: The state government has alerted some of the districts that are lagging behind in the construction of toilets under the ‘Swachh Bharat’ scheme.

According to sources, there are six districts showing slow progress when it comes to the construction of toilets in households. In most of the districts of Bengal, the project of constructing toilets has been completed under the ‘Swachh Bharat’ scheme. Around 100 per cent households have received a toilet in the far off districts like Cooch Behar and Purulia as well.

Only around 15 per cent of the total targeted houses have been covered in Murshidabad. Apart from that, the city adjoining districts like North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas are also lagging behind. In the case of North 24-Parganas, around 55 per cent of the total work has been completed while in South 24-Parganas, 60 per cent work has been done. Around 36-53 per cent of the targeted households have received a toilet in the districts of West Midnapore, Malda, South Dinajpur, Jhargram. Around 95-99 per cent of the total work has been completed in East Midnapore, East Burdwan and Birbhum.

Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi, during a recent meeting at Nabanna, wanted to know from the Panchayats and Rural Development department about the status of the project and expressed concern as some of the districts are still lagging behind. Sources said there is a target of setting up around 4,87,465 toilets in the villages out of which around 2,84,665 have been constructed so far.

The districts lagging behind have been asked to expedite work. The Bengal government had taken up the construction of rural toilets through Mission Nirmal Bangla, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Various Panchayats have also undertaken extensive public awareness campaigns to ensure that people get fully rid of their habit of defecating in the open.