A report submitted by the State Government before the NHRC has admitted that nine out of twelve bio-toilets in Bhadrak district have been defunct for more than one than a year and there are thousands of villagers who are still opting for open defecation in the adjoining areas. The Government submitted the report in response to the NHRC summons issued to the Chief Secretary asking him to appear before it on August 28 over non-functioning of bio-toilets in Bhadrak district.
Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist RadhakantaTripathy had filed a petition before the NHRC and sought its intervention to ensure functioning of bio-toilets so that problems of urination and defecation would be resolved and, particularly, the risk of women folk getting harassed due to open defecation would be lessened.
The Chief Secretary sent his replies on August 24 with a special request to consider it and his personal appearance may be dispensed with. Earlier, the NHRC had sought an action taken report (ATR) and issued several reminders over the issue to the Chief Secretary over the pitiable condition of the bio-toilets established by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It may be noted here that former Union Ministers Jairam Ramesh and Srikant Jena had inaugurated bio-toilets for the first time in the country near the Dhamra Port during the last Government. The aim was to reduce open defecation in rural areas.