Once defecation-free, Berhampur now has acute shortage of public toilets

BERHAMPUR city was declared open defecation free in 2018. Two years later, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) was awarded ODF++ ranking in the Swachhat Sarvekshan (cleanliness survey) conducted by the Centre.

- SISIR PANIGRAHY

But the acute shortage of functional public toilets and garbage strewn in the open belie the very notion of sanitation.

The city has a population of 6 lakh, excluding a floating population of over one lakh. While most households in the city have their own toilets, people residing in slums use embankment of ponds to defecate.