Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Apr 25: Even though Jammu and Kashmir is prime most tourist destination in India, sanitation here continues to be among the worst in the country.
Sources told Early Times that around 45 percent of households are without a toilet.
However the government sources said that the law and order situation in Kashmir curbs the sanitation operations.
One of the top officials of the government told early times that the government is not to be blamed alone but one has to understand that the law and order problem in Kashmir from last few years plays a factor for the limited sanitation coverage. According to the data available on Swachh Bharat Mission dashboard, over 2 lakh (2,02,238) individual household toilets were constructed in rural J&K after the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. In the last three years, the state's sanitation coverage has improved only to 40.97 percent from 20.38 percent in 2014.
The Chief Secretary of the state B.B, viyas had recently admitted that the state has so far achieved 55 per cent coverage of Individual House Hold Latrines (IHHL). "During the review meeting on the progress of flagship Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) chaired by the Prime minister Narender Modi the Chief Secretary has said that state has so far achieved only 55 percent coverage and that government believes that it will increase up to 60 per cent by April 10 2018," Notably, the state is yet to achieve the ODF status.
Sources in the housing and urban department said that sanitation facilities in the state are very poor, and this is not limited to villages only. "The situation is similar in cities and healthcare institutions as well. Hepatitis A and diarrhoea, particularly in children, caused by rotavirus are common among patients where sanitary facilities are poor,"
It is observed that the state's two capital cities are not far behind as attending the natural call at open places is widely prevalent in the numerous slums.
As per the different surveys even posh areas in Jammu and Srinagar also have defunct public toilets leaving people to defecate in the open.
Sources said that the Municipal Corporation both in Jammu and Srinagar claim to have sufficient functional public toilets, however, on ground, the picture is dismal with no usable public toilet accessible for the masses.
However experts said that open defecation is a pressing public health issue and no sector can address it on its own.
The officials in the government have admitted that although a lot is being done by the government to tackle the problem of sanitation, and although efforts are yielding positive results, a lot still needs to be done, looking at the needs of the population.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Baseline survey of the union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has ranked Jammu and Kashmir third worst state in sanitation. The two worst states are Odisha and Bihar.
The survey has said that Jammu and Kashmir, a state of 12.5 million people, did not use the funds granted by union government for the sanitation properly.
The survey has said that for 2014-15, the Jammu and kashmir used mere Rs 4.66 crore out of Rs 121.52 crore.
The data has said that in Jammu and Kashmir, 6,351 schools lack toilets for girls and 8,098 lack toilets for boys. More than 71% of schools have no basins or taps to wash hands near toilets and urinals.
The annual implementation plan for the year 2015-2016 of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was approved by the state on June 9, setting a target of 0.2 million latrines to be constructed in rural areas during the year. Of J&K's three regions, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, two districts, Kargil and Leh, in the mountainous Ladakh region, did better in household toilet construction than Kashmir and Jammu divisions, the data had revealed.
Sources said that though the J&K aims to go open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, but going by the track record target seem like a tall order. |
