State takes up schemes to construct toilets around forest areas

State Forest department has taken up a comprehensive scheme to construct toilets at the households situated in and around the forest areas of West Bengal.

The main purpose of the scheme is to protect the villagers from being attacked by wild animals in the forest and reduce the incidents of man-animal conflict.

The department has closely observed that accidents often take place when the villagers enter into the forest areas for open defecation. In most of the cases, villagers die in elephant attack.

According to a senior Forest department official nearly 400 toilets have been constructed at the houses of the villagers residing under the Baikunthapur forest division in North Bengal. Toilets are being constructed in other forest divisions in North Bengal as well.

The project would be carried out throughout the state, especially in the forest adjoining areas in various phases. It may be mentioned that the state government has set March 2018 as the deadline when all the rural houses in Bengal will have toilets.

The state government had launched Mission Nirmal Bangla in October 2014 under which various sanitation projects were taken up at various levels. The state government had also set up a target before various departments to achieve cleanliness and sanitation by forming an administrative mechanism.

Mission Nirmal Bangla was a brainchild of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had laid emphasis on the cleanliness drive. The West Bengal Panchayat and Rural Development department has set March 2018 as the deadline when all rural houses in the state will have toilets. High level meetings in this regard were held by the Panchayat and Rural development office on Tuesday.

Mamata Banerjee government has given an emphasis on setting up toilets in the houses in villages where people still do not have a toilet and hence are forced to go for open defecation. The Panchayat and Rural department has also taken up massive awareness campaign in this regard.

A Forest department official said that people living in the forest areas have to confront various wild animals when they go for open defecation. After considering the matter which is of great importance, the State Forest Department has chalked out an elaborate plan to solve problem.