Not Happy With The Swachh Quotient Of Toilets In Panchkula? Here Is What You Can Do

New Delhi: Considered as one of the most populous and wealthiest states in India, Haryana is leaving no stones unturned to have top-notch sanitation facilities. With each passing day, the state is coming up with solutions to pep up its game in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The new entrant in the list of initiatives taken by the authorities is the maintenance of public and community toilets. The Municipal Corporation in Panchkula has come up with an initiative, wherein individuals will be able to give their feedback by rating toilets on the basis of cleanliness.

A lot of people don’t know whom to complain about the pitiable condition of toilets. To make things easier for the individuals, we have started this initiative, says O. P. Sihag, Executive Officer, Muncipal Corporation, Panchkula.

The Municipal Corporation will be installing a feedback machine outside every public and community toilets located in its 45 blocks. These machines will have three buttons – red, yellow and green. By pressing a particular button, toilet users can register their feedback.

While pressing the green button will mean that a toilet is clean, yellow will send a message that the condition of the toilet is satisfactory and red button will indicate the poor condition of the toilet, added Mr Sihag.

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The Municipal Corporation has tied up with BSNL for installing these rating machines. For these ICT based feedback machines, the Municipal Corporation is paying ₹42,525 for a month which breaks it down to ₹945 per block, per month.

Explaining the working of feedback machine, O. P. Sihag said,

As soon as the user presses a button, we will receive a notification of the report on our phones. All the feedbacks will also be stored in a server at Municipal Corporation’s office.

The Swachhta movement in Haryana has been in full swing since the inception of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. As of now, 6,908 villages have been declared ODF and 6,43,367 household toilets have been constructed in the rural Haryana and the area attained ODF tag back in June 2017. Right after achieving ODF tag, it began the process of ODF plus tag which refers to total sanitation in terms of solid waste management, improved sewerage lines, stormwater drains and pucca cement roads.

To sustain the ODF tag, especially in Panchkula, the Municipal Corporation has started fining people.

If any individual is seen defecating in open then a fine of ₹500 is imposed on him/her. All the citizens of the district are well aware of this law. The reason behind implementing such law is to sustain the ODF tag. Building toilets and declaring the state ODF is not enough. The biggest challenge is to sustain that tag, signs off Mr Sihag.

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