80 villages in Rajasthan to become ‘Open Defecation Free’
UDAIPUR. Hindustan Zinc, a Sesa Sterlite company in Zinc-Lead-Silver business has signed MoU with the State Government of Rajasthan to build 30,000 rural toilets for BPL families under the ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’. The construction of these toilets will be completed in 3 years. This initiative will make 80 rural and tribal villages in Rajasthan “Open Defecation Free’.
The company has started the construction of these toilets in Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan and so far the construction of 8,000 toilets has been completed.
The company is constructing 2 ‘Leach Pits’ below each toilet to facilitate disposal of waste. Only one ‘Leach Pit’ will be used at a time. Each ‘Leach Pit’ is estimated to be full in about 5 year. As the first ‘Leach Pit’ is full the second ‘Leach Pit’ will be opened. Within 5 years the waste in the first ‘Leach Pit’ will be converted into manure to be utilized by the farmer for agriculture purpose.
These newly constructed toilets will also minimize the risk of contamination of drinking water sources thus reducing the health related problems in rural India. Under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, cost of construction of each toilet is Rs. 8,500/-, where Rs. 4600 per toilet is being paid by government, Rs. 3000 by Hindustan Zinc and Rs. 900 by the beneficiary.
Lack of Toilets facilities in rural areas for females has always been a matter of concern, especially during the late hours. Toilet in each house-hold provides comfort, convenience with a sense of security and dignity to each member of the house, particularly the female members. The project is also expected to improve good hygiene practices and create awareness towards health & sanitation.
“This project of constructing toilets has been undertaken by Hindustan Zinc with an objective to provide clean and hygienic house-hold toilets to the BPL families and discourage and eventually eliminate open defecation practices in the villages. Hindustan Zinc would be spending about Rs. 8.6 crore towards construction of these 30,000 toilets” informed Pavan Kaushik, Head of Corporate Communication.
According to UNICEF report, today only 48% of rural Indian population has access to good toilet and sanitation facilities. When more than 50% of Indian population defecates in open it leads to improper disposal of the waste, sanitation issues and cause of many harmful diseases. With Rajasthan in particular, 60% of population defecates in open.
