Years after Central government’s unique initiative “No toilets, no brides”, residents of 110 villages from three neighbouring States “ Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh “ resolved to go swachh in a big way in a sweeping move to inculcate healthy habits and curb open defecation.
Led by around 100 ulemas and maulanas, the participants, mostly from the Muslim community, decided to launch an awareness campaign as part of the Swachh Bharat mission. Around 1,200 villagers unanimously decided not to marry their daughters into households which did not have toilets. Open defecation is not only an unhygienic habit, but also often leads to crime against women.
Goa, known for being a tourism destination, hit by a long-pending garbage issue, is yet to seriously address the issue, although the objectives are different from Haryana or Punjab. Most of the slum inhabitants, including those of Zuarinagar, have been constantly exposing the shabby side of the State. Open defecation has also been rampant at several hutments and construction sites dotting the State.
Although CM Laxmikant Parsekar had made known his intentions to make Goa the first State to ban open defecation, nothing has changed since he flagged off the issue during Gandhi Jayanti last year. Parsekar admitted there is ample scope to keep the land clean. He said there are few points in Goa where toilets are yet to be set up and once it is done, open defecation would cease to exist. It’s now time to set up a new government and Goans will have to patiently wait for the new dispensation to take up the ‘clean up’ job.
