Navsari district to get 10,000 toilet blocks in eight months

SURAT: Thirty-four-year-old Preeti Mahapatra, who runs a charitable trust in Mumbai, will provide toilets to 10,000 families in four talukas of Navsari district. The toilets will be built in eight months at a cost of Rs 20 crore in the villages of Jalalpore, Gandevi, Chikhli and Navsari taluka.
Preeti hails from Gujarat and runs Krishnaleela Foundation, which is active in Maharashtra and Odisha.She told TOI, "It pains me to see women in the villages having to wait till dark to relieve themselves. Defecation in the open leads to a number of diseases. Toilets in the houses would help improve the situation a great deal for the women."
Preeti said, "I want to see Navsari district becoming the first in the state with sanitation facilities for the people. My goal is to make it first 'nirmal' district of Gujarat."
The design for the toilet blocks is ready. The location for the toilets is yet to be worked out. The list of beneficiaries would be handed over to the foundation in the coming month by the administration.
Navsari district collector Remya Mohan said, "This NGO has taken up the responsibility to construct 10,000 toilet blocks. We are just playing the role of a facilitator. The toilets would have double pits."
CR Patil, the local member of Parliament, who introduced the NGO to Navsari administration, said, "Our aim is to make Navsari first district with sanitation facilities for the people."
Navsari district requires 50,000 toilet blocks. Twenty thousands of these are being arranged for by the district administration. Surat district needs 90,000 toilet blocks.