Sanitation coverage in Mayurbhanj low

BARIPADA: Even after three years of launch of Swachh Bharat Mission, the tribal dominated Mayurbhanj district’s sanitation coverage remains woefully low at 27 per cent with only Deogarh district having achieved the open defecation free (ODF) status. As per reports, against a target of constructing 34,286 toilets, only 9,242 Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) have been completed under the scheme. The residents of Gudialbandh panchayat, about 17 km from Baripada district headquarters town, under Barasahi block of the district, are deprived of sanitation facilities. A similar situation  prevails in Kadualbandh panchayat. 

Villagers of Kadualbandh alleged that the ambitious toilet construction programme under Swachh Bharat Mission to make the country open defecation free by 2019 is slipping. Due to lack of toilets, locals continue to defecate in the open along the embankments of streams, rivers and ponds in the area. Water bodies get polluted due to lack of drainage system. As a result, villagers are being affected by water-borne diseases, they alleged.

District Youth Congress president Rakesh Singh said the villages, surrounded by a number of tributaries, lack sanitation facilities since Independence. Mangal Singh of Kadualbandh said the officials of Barasahi block visited the area and inspected the situation recently. A fresh list of beneficiaries has been prepared for toilet construction in the panchayat, he added.Executive Engineer of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Jay Narayan Seet said so far, 9,242 of 34,286 IHHLs have been constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission, adding that the rest 25,044 will be constructed shortly.