VASCO: Mormugao taluka is reeling under the pressure of open defecation with thousands of people in and around the port town of Vasco not having access to individual household toilets or public toilets.
Herald had earlier highlighted how open defecation continues to reign in the Mormugao taluka with the local bodies taking baby steps to tackle the problem.
The attitude Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) does not seem to be in sync with the goals established to make the State and the Country open defecation free by 2020. The struggle for thousands continues with 2 public toilets for over 3 thousand laborers at Khariwada, despite the availability of public toilets rampant open defecation at Baina and open defecation by people from Zuarinagar.
Official records of the local body state that there are 2 toilets each in Khariwada and Baina.
The recent murder at Khariwado has revealed the actual magnitude of the problem of floating population in the form of labourers at the Khariwado jetty. Khariwado has at least 200 fishing trawlers and canoes which have 12 to 15 labourers working on each trawler. These sum upto a whopping 3000 labourers at the Khariwada jetty with only two toilets for use. A visit to Khariwada and sites where these toilets are located revealed that the condition of these toilets too is far from being good to use. One of the 6 seat Sulabh toilet near the crematorium at Khariwada is deserted and half of the portion is closed.
The records inform that there is yet another toilet at Khariwada, however maintained by a private organization and therefore is not for public use which results in the escalation of the open defecation problem in the area.
The MMC has no concrete plans or proposals for additional public toilets which are a must in the various wards if the local body is going to meet the Open Defecation Free (ODF) target for its wards.
Meanwhile, thousands from Zuarinagar still defecate in the open. The land beneath the Zuari Indian Oil Tanking hillock is one big open toilet where the residents from Goa’s biggest slum defecate.
In 2016, the Deputy Collector’s office prepared guidelines to be implemented by the MMC and Urban Health Center (UHC).
Speaking to Herald, local health officer stated that the UHC is overburdened with work and therefore the task of monitoring the ODF guidelines should be undertaken by the council.
With neither of the agencies carrying out checks on the conditions of the toilets, many of the toilets are either closed or in dilapidated conditions resulting in open defecation.
Roland Martins of GOACAN who has been consistently following up with the local authorities to tackle the problem said “We have time and again insisted on having strict checks on the operations of public toilets in Mormugao area. People being overcharged by the public toilets has also come to light. The authorities need to get in a system to look at overcharging at this toilets and also notify a uniform price for the toilet use”.
