Cleaning A Dirty Patch

There has been a massive spike in constructing toilets in record time in Gonda district. But it remains to be seen whether it would lead to real gains in making the district open defecation free

- Rashmi Varma

ABOUT 100 kilometres east of Uttar Pradesh’s capital city of Lucknow, the district headquarter town of Gonda made it to national headlines in mid-2017 when it was named as the dirtiest city in India by the Swachh Survekshan rankings. Now with just one and a half years left to meet the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) target, the laggard districts are in competition to bring about 100 percent toilet coverage, and Gonda district recently embarked on an ambitious drive.

Christened “Mission 32”, the district targeted to build 32,000 toilets in just 120 hours between March 26 and 30, 2018. “This scheme will not only help us remove the tag of one of the dirtiest districts in the country, but will also serve as an exceptional example of efficiency, commitment and community involvement,” says J B Singh, the district magistrate of Gonda.

“It is more like a dream for me,” says Khaimul Nisha, a 72-year-old villager from Virahmatpur gram panchayat of Wazirganj block. “My son who is a farmer has been trying to build a toilet for long. He registered for financial support last year in November. This year we were lucky enough to get our name in the list. Soon we will get rid of the shame of going out,” adds Nisha.