Noida and Greater Noida, cities that have spent a lot of money on roads, flyovers and shopping malls, are still home to villages where residents are forced to relieve themselves out in the open.
The 284 villages in Gautam Budh Nagar district will be surveyed starting Monday to take stock of the extent of open defecation.
The district administration will identify the households that lack toilets. The ones that can afford to build the facilities will be counselled and those who need financial aid will be helped by the administration.
“We are working towards making Gautam Budh Nagar open defecation-free by the end of the financial year in March 2016. We will be starting with 12 villages,” said District Magistrate N.P. Singh.
The first step will be to map the villages in terms of access to toilets. In areas where there is space for individual toilets for households, the administration will facilitate the construction either through government funding or corporate financing on the PPP model.
Mr. Singh said the survey would take three to four months to complete, while the construction would take about one month. The district gets about Rs. 500 crore per year for its sanitation services, but the amount will be adequate for the entire project. Mr. Singh said industry bodies and multinationals working in the district have been approached to help out with the project.
Apart from the survey, an awareness campaign is being planned. Nodal officers at the block, nagar palika and gram panchayat levels have been appointed. Youth, especially girls, and women from the community are being roped in to counsel villagers about the need for toilets. Sportspersons from the district will be made brand ambassadors of the campaign.
“Before the infrastructure is in place, we want the public to fully participate. We will also be ensuring that all toilets in our schools are renovated and in good condition by September 30,” said Mr. Singh.
In the first phase, 12 villages will be made open defecation-free in three months. These include Tilapata, Nithari and Kasna. Hoshiarpur village is likely to be the first to be declared open defecation-free, with work expected to finish in two months.
The 284 villages in the district will be surveyed starting Monday to take
stock of the extent
of open defecation
