Bhubaneswar: The civic body has till April 1 to make the state capital open defecation free.
The housing and urban development department slammed the civic body for its failure to achieve the target before setting the second deadline. It has also asked officials to engage a full-time sanitation expert and monitor his activities to get things done on time.
In a letter to the municipal authorities, the department stated that the progress of building individual household latrines was dismal. "It was also observed that sanitation experts engaged for providing support for implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission are unable to accomplish the assigned job within the timeline," the letter stated.
The department has also asked the civic authorities to expedite the engagement of swachhagrahis (cleanliness agents) for each municipal ward and ask sanitation experts to co-ordinate with them to identify beneficiaries for household latrines.
Besides, the civic body will also have to ensure that the sanitation experts were working in the filed from 8.30am to 10.30pm. Apart from co-ordinating with swachhagrahis, they will distribute work orders to the eligible beneficiaries for household latrines and also look after their status.
The civic body will also explore the option of rolling out the mini community toilet scheme, for construction of latrines for a cluster of four to six houses.
"We are making efforts to ensure that people stop open defecation. We have been working with voluntary organisations to sensitise them on the issue and also distributing work orders for individual household latrines through our officers at the ward level. We will intensify the drive now," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
The civic body had initially planned to make 25 slums along Janpath free from open defecation by August 15. However, only about 14 slums have got the status. "Andhra Pradesh has declared the entire state free from open defecation. I don't understand why the authorities have failed at a small city like Bhubaneswar," said social worker Alok Mohanty.
