Paradip: The civic body plans to slap a spot fine of Rs 100 to open defecators in the port town from Monday.

The spot fine will be termed as "cleaning charge", said an official of the Paradip Municipality.

A surveillance squad has been formed to keep an eye on open defecators. The squad, comprising municipal staff and volunteers, will keep watch on open defecators, especially at the slum settlements on the outskirts of the port town, said executive officer of Paradip Municipality Dillip Mohanty.

"The core port town houses mostly port employees, along with some other private and government employees. This area is almost free from open defecation. However, open defecation is common at the slum settlements on the outskirts of the port town. So, our main focus will be to make the slums free from open defecation. The municipality plans to make the port town and its surroundings free from open defecation by January 26," he said.

The slum colonies in Paradip have 8,754 registered households. Of them, only 3,396 houses have access to toilets. In another development, the toilets of 492 families have turned dysfunctional.

For defecation, the municipality has built 347 community toilets spread across the municipal area. Those who are having no toilets of their own will now have to use the community toilets or cough up penalty. The community toilets have been renovated with round-the-clock water supply, said another civic official.

The municipality will provide funds to households for construction of 3,888 new toilets in the slum colonies. Some 2,588 families have already applied online for toilet grants.

Large areas in and around Paradip are besieged with unauthorised human settlements. The port town shoulders the burden of more than 75,000 migrant people living unlawfully in slum clusters.