The jogging track within Dada-Dadi Park near Morabadi Ground was rendered useless due to stink from open defecation by army aspirants who were camping there during the recruitment drive in October. A similar, but widespread stench had engulfed Morabadi Ground when around 20,000 para-teachers had gathered there for four days, demanding permanent jobs.
As the cases point out, open defecation has always been raising a stink in the city. In fields or railway tracks, one can easily find people relieving themselves in the wee hours of the morning, even within the capital city. And instances involving huge crowds gathered for long periods of time without arrangements of adequate toilets make an entire area difficult on the olfactory senses.
So, taking a step towards preventing open defecation in city, Ranchi Municipal Corporation has procured three mobile toilets, which can be rented by organisers of public or private functions, where temporary toilets cannot be made despite the need. These mobile restrooms were made available to the public on Saturday.
When not earning revenue for the urban local body, the transportable restrooms will be taken to slums, considering that open defecation is more of a problem in these parts of the city.
The two variants bought by RMC, six-seater and ten-seater, cost `11.9 lakh for the former variant and `17.17 lakh for the latter. For marriages and similar functions, the six-seater can be hired for `1,500 and ten-seater for `2,000 per day. For business exhibitions or fests, the organisers will have to pay `3,500 for the smaller variant and `5,000 for the bigger variant.
“On the very first day after its launching, one of these toilets has been sent to Chief Minister’s residence for a gathering there. As the marriage season advances, we are expecting the portable toilets to be quite in demand,” said RMC Assistant Executive Officer Ram Krishna Kumar.
When not on hire, the toilets will be stationed near slums, as instructed by RMC Municipal Commissioner. “Although we are encouraging construction of household toilets in city’s slums, there are still some regions where it is still difficult objective to achieve. We have plans to deploy these toilets to these areas,” stated Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijaywargia.
The toilets will be used for inculcating toilet-going habits among the slum-dwellers, and encourage them to build toilets in their homes. RMC has plans to procure more portable toilets if the move proves to be successful.
“It is too early to tell, but we are in process of planning to buy more mobile toilets after considering the response we get for the procured three,” Vijaywargia said.
