A s a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, braveheart Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad’s village in Betadur in Kundagol taluk, Karnataka had about 101 toilets built in it over a span of 12 hours on Sunday, the New Indian Express reported.
Koppad was an Indian soldier from Betadur village in Dharwad district, Karnataka, who survived the massive Siachen glacier avalanche. Lance was found during the rescue operations at thirty-five feet below the snow in -45 °C temperatures, six days after the disaster. News of his survival made news far and wide, and India prayed for his recovery. Sadly, he succumbed to multiple organ failures and passed away on 11 February 2016.
The village has 1,030 houses, of which 800 have individual toilets. The remaining households, which lack individual toilets will have the facility by October 2, said the Zilla Panchayat officials to the New Indian Express.
While pits and toilet seats were installed a few days ago, the walls and roofs of the toilets were constructed and installed on Sunday.
The Union Govt aims to spend Rs 600 crore every year on the treatment of people who fall sick due to spreading of germs following open defecation. However, the budget allocated to the construction of such toilets was not mentioned in the report. He called upon villagers to construct toilets in their houses and avoid open defecation.
How does India compare with other countries on open defecation? India fares poorly. According to a report by the Hindu, Sub-Saharan Africa, has only half the rural open defecation when compared to India. In Bangladesh, only 5 percent of rural people defecate in the open, significantly lower than that in India.
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Eliminating Open Defecation in India by 2nd October 2019 – the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi – is one of the key aims of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan movement, launched by the Narendra Modi Govt two years ago.
An incentive of Rs 12,000 will be given to villagers for the construction of toilets for general category people and Rs 15,000 for those belonging to SC/ST categories.
Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Snehal R said Dharwad district will be made open defecation-free by October 2. The district has 1.44 lakh households and out of which, 1.20 lakh households have individual toilets.
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