Cuttack, April 24: The municipal corporation here seems to be struggling to implement the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that aims at maintaining cleanliness in the city.

Though the civic body has undertaken a massive project to resolve the basic problem of open defecation by forming special squads, the inadequate number of public toilets is adversely affecting the ambitious drive.

Inordinate delay in the setting up of 32 public toilets by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has emerged as a major hurdle in way of the successful implementation of the Swacch Bharat mission in the 59 wards.

The mega public toilet project, estimated to cost Rs 7.65 crore, was conceived almost three years ago but is yet to be completed even though the construction work started last year. The project is being executed with financial assistance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and the state government.

The shortage of public toilets is causing severe problems for people, especially those who reside at slum clusters and near major commercial centres and other public places in various parts of the city.

There are only 67 public toilets, including 22 pay-and-use ones set up at different wards under the municipal corporation limits.

But due to poor maintenance and lack of water, there are hardly any people using the existing public toilets in the city.

"It is high time the civic body ropes in mobile toilets near Kathajodi and Mahanadi rivers, slums and near major commercial centres to overcome the shortage of public toilets and to put a check on open defecation," said Kishore Das, a resident of Bhagatpur.

Das said: "The construction of new toilets will no doubt be a time consuming affair and requires a lot of space and funds. The municipal corporation should consider purchasing mobile toilets that can be placed at strategic locations in the city."

An official source said due to bottlenecks in land acquisition, there has been a delay in the construction of the 32 public toilets.

"The work for the construction of nearly 12 public toilets has already started and we hope to complete them within a couple of months," said municipal commissioner Gyana Das. He said the construction of 23 other public toilets will be taken up in a phased manner and the entire project is expected to be completed by next year.

The civic body has formed 93 teams - consisting of community organisers, sanitary inspectors, anganwadi workers and tax collectors - to conduct a survey on households that lack toilets and putting a check on open defecation on drainage channels.

"The drive launched by the municipal corporation last week aims at ensuring zero open defecation in all the 59 wards of Cuttack city by carrying out regular awareness drives," said Nirupama Swain, a slum improvement officer at CMC.