The Odisha Government has informed the National Human Rights Commission that the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) is yet to repair the nine defunct bio-toilets in Dhamara and Basudevpur blocks.
Responding to a notice, the Chief Secretary informed that the DRDO had constructed 12 bio-toilets for community use in five villages, Dakhina Dhamara (2), Jay Durgapatna (2), Amarnagar (2), KK Pur (2) and Mandari (4), in June 2012. Of these, nine toilets are not working now.
While the District Water and Sanitation Mission (DWSM), Bhadrak and the State Water and Sanitation Mission, Bhubaneswar doesn’t know the technicalities of construction of bio-toilets, the DRDO has been asked to make the toilets functional and provide technical operation details but the latter has not responded yet.
Earlier, acting on a petition by Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC had sought to know the status of these toilets, which were set up for the first time in the country. Former Ministers Jairam Ramesh and Srikant Jena had inaugurated the toilets on June 26, 2012.