Mon, 2014-04-07 10:38 — admin
Nepalgunj, Nepal, April 5, 2014: Binauna soon to become open defecation free zone. To encourage villagers to build toilets, a Village Development Committee office in Banke has started to distribute certificates to those who have sanitation facilities in their houses.
Binauna Village Development Committee office came up with the idea of certificate distribution, considering the fact that many lives could be saved from diarrhoea if the villagers had toilets and maintained cleanliness.
Locals too have appreciated the initiative and shown overwhelming response to Village Development Committee’s move.
Ram Kumari Tharu of Binauna Village Development Committee Ward No 8 was happy to receive a certificate from the Village Development Committee office for building a toilet in her house. “ Toilets have helped us maintain cleanliness and they can save us from many types of diseases,” she said.
Village Development Committee Secretary Kul Raj Upadhaya said the certificate distribution plan has really worked and has encouraged many to build toilets.
With the summer setting in, the threat of water and sanitation-related diseases looms large.
Nepal has made some achievements in the past though. As of 2011, 62 per cent of population had access to sanitation facilities. But those people who do not have a latrine have no option but to defecate in the open, helping to cause widespread disease.
In Tarai, the situation is worse, with many more people having no access to toilets. Statistics say about 8,000 children die in Nepal from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation. This accounts for a third of all child deaths overall.
So, such initiatives encouraging people to build toilets are necessary, said Upadhyay. “Villagers are really motivated by our plan.” Those having toilets in their houses, and certificates because of that, are also entitled to facilities provided by VDC.
According to VDC sources, more than 300 toilets have been constructed since July-August after the office started distributing certificates to the villagers. There are 1,200 households in the VDC. Upadhaya said that as many as 300 villagers have received the certificates while others will get soon. He said his office is targeting to declare Binauna VDC open defecation free zone within this fiscal.
Sarad Paudel, information officer of Banke District Development Committee, said Kusum, Bageshwori, Naubasta, Radhapur and Bankatuwa have already been declared open defecation free VDCs.
Nepal aims to meet the national target of universal access to basic sanitation facilities by 2017, and the government has already approved the ambitious Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan (2010-2017).
- About 38 per cent of the population in Nepal do not have access to proper toilet
- Statistics say about 8,000 children die in Nepal from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation
- Nepal aims to meet the national target of universal access to basic sanitation facilities by 2017
- Binauna has 1,200 houses and 300 of them have already built toilets, with others following suit, after VDC’s initiative. (Source: Damodar Bhandari)