In a bid to make Delhi’s one of most populated slums, Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) open defecation free (ODF) by March 2018 the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) will eliminate user fees levied in public toilets. The nominal user fee, which ranges anything between Rs 3 to Rs 5, will be waived off on a total of 19,000 toilet seats from January 1, 2018. The decision, taken at a board meeting of the DUSIB in presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, aims to encourage toilet usage among slum dwellers.
The board decided to waive the user charges on the usage of 19,000 toilet seats run by the DUSIB. These toilets would be free for usage from January 1, 2018, the government said in a statement.
This comes as a new year gift from the Delhi government to the residents of JJ colonies, it added.
The DUSIB is expecting a loss of Rs 50 crore once the user charges are terminated on toilets seats in JJ clusters spread across seven constituencies of the city. The loss incurred will be borne by the Delhi government, the statement said.
The state government along with the DUSIB in August had identified 211 locations prone to open defecation. After understanding the hygiene and cleanliness situation, the government had allotted Rs 150 crore for construction of 17,000 toilets by March next year.
In June, Chief Minister Kejriwal had announced that around 10,000 community toilets have been built in the last two years at an inaugural function. After assessing the time period to give toilet access to every resident of JJ, the chief minister had directed the civic officials to make JJ ODF in 2-3 years as against the assessed time period that varied from five to ten years.
“There is a shortage of toilets in JJ clusters and the inhabitants prefer to relieve in the open. Keeping this in mind, we have started working on the project and hope that all slums will have toilet facilities by March next year. A grant of Rs 150 crore has been sanctioned for building 17,000 toilets,” a senior government official had said.
With inputs from PTI
