TEAM HERALD
PORVORIM: GOACAN organised an awareness action in Mapusa to reach out to consumers on the importance of ‘Toilets for all and the need to end open defecation’ in Goa.
The awareness action, which was organised near the Government Office Complex, was part of the ongoing Sanitation Awareness Fortnight organized by GOACAN.
Volunteers displaying placards highlighted the need for clean toilets in bus stands, markets, children’s parks, beaches and all public places and demanded adequate toilets for women, senior citizens and the disabled. The volunteers also called for adequate toilets for workers at construction sites and industrial estates.
Information slips were distributed to consumers on the importance of the Village Health & Sanitation Committee promoted by the Directorate of Health Services and the Water & Sanitation Committee promoted by the PWD to be set up in very panchayat.
The awareness action got good response from the consumers who expressed their willingness to write to their respective panchayats and move gram sabha proposals calling for the declaration of 2014 as the Year of Sanitation so that all the villages can benefit from the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) programmes.
GOACAN co-coordinator Roland Martins stated that he will call on the North Goa District Collector & the chairperson of the North Goa Zilla Panchayat to assess the requirement of Community Sanitary Complexes at markets, highways, bus stands, religious places, fair grounds, beaches and other public places and review the progress of the Solid & Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) component of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) in the district.
