VASCO
The Sancoale panchayat on Monday handed over 10 public toilets in different wards of the village to the Sulabh International, after clearing pending power and water bills worth Rs 1.69 crore.
Sancoale Sarpanch Ramakant Borkar handed over the agreement to Sushil Kumar of Sulabh International in the presence of other panch members, Kavita Kamal, Narayan Naik, Govind Lamani, Arish Kadar and Satish Padwalkar.
Later speaking to reporters, Borkar said some public toilets did not have water connections while some did not have power connections, as water and power bills of these toilets had not been paid for several years.
“We would get several complains of toilets with no water and power supply. We had outstanding bills of Rs 1.61 crore for water connections and Rs 8 lakh for electricity supply,” said Borkar.
“With the help of Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho, we took up the issue with Power Minister Nilesh Cabral and we cleared all these pending amounts under the OTS scheme.”
“There is no pending bills at present and Sulabh International will now have their staff at these 10 toilets to maintain them in a clean and hygienic manner.”
“People will get a better washroom facilities in Sancoale without any issues of water or electricity," said Borkar.
Borker said the panchayat had also received complains regarding anti-social activity near the toilets and warned of strict action against miscreants indulging in such activities near the toilets.
"We will not tolerate these anti-social activities and I have spoken to Verna police inspector, who has assured action against such miscreants. I appeal to people to immediately inform police if any such activities are noticed near the toilets,” said Borkar.
