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| Dry latrines at Pahalgam expose ‘open defecation free’ tourist place claims | | |  Saahil Suhail
Early Times Report
Anantnag, Sept 30: The existence and usage of dry latrines at famous tourist spot Pahalgam in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district has exposed the claims about Pahalgam having achieved the status of Open Defecation-Free Tourist Place in Jammu and Kashmir.
A dry latrine at Aathnadan village of Pahalgam near the Masjid is still being used by the locals.
“The officials must be held accountable for this and must be asked why this latrine is being used if they provided money to each deserving family in the village for constructing toilet blocks,” few local residents told Early Times.
The dry latrine, they said, is a cause of bad smell and those commuting on the nearby road especially children too were facing problems because of it.
Assistant Director Tourism Pahalgam, Bilal Ahmad Mir told Early Times that the tourist destination has officially achieved the status of Open Defecation-Free few years back, however was unaware about the use of dry latrines being used in rural areas of Pahalgam. “I haven’t received any such complaint or report and actually it is the jurisdiction of the Rural Development Department to see the implementation of the Swachh Bharat scheme in the rural areas of Pahalgam,” Mir told Early Times.
Executive Officer Municipal Committee Pahalgam said that the area he was looking after at Pahalgam is officially open defecation free. “The rural area of Pahalgam is being looked after by the Rural Development Department,” he said.
Block Development Officer (BDO) Pahalgam on being contacted said that he had recently joined as BDO of Block Pahalgam and as such wasn’t aware about it. “I will check and get back to you,” he told Early Times over phone.
Important to recall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' (Clean India Mission) on 2nd October in 2014. Five years later, the Prime Minister declared the country open defecation-free, however in Jammu and Kashmir dry latrines are still being used mostly in rural and tribal areas. |
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