PANAJI: The government has now set its sights on March 31 to make Goa open defecation-free ( ODF ), given that it is about to miss the December 31 deadline. A survey it had conducted pointed to a requirement of 52,883 toilets for rural households and 3,336 for those in municipal areas. Of these, 30,000-odd households comprise families that live below the poverty line.At a meeting held on Friday, government agencies decided to proceed with a tendering process to select an agency for the installation of toilets in houses that did not have one. Director of panchayats Rajan Satardekar, said the tendering has been entrusted to the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation.“There was a delay in floating the tender because one of the technologies selected earlier had some issues,” he said. The biodigester technology, created by the DRDO, has been given the go-ahead, clearing the path for tendering.Forms for registration of applicants are expected to be finalised next week. People whose names do not figure on the government’s list, can also apply for the facility, Satardekar said, adding that the number of households without toilets was likely to increase, which is why the government was looking at procuring about 60,000 bio-toilets.The cost of one toilet is estimated to be Rs 50,000 and the total cost to the state is expected to be Rs 300 crore. Although the state will charge people for such toilets, costs are likely to be subsidised.________________TIMES VIEW: Achieving open defecation-free status will remain an elusive dream for the state as long as the government does not clamp down on the illegal leasing of accommodation sans toilet facilities. Such leasing is a lucrative business as it caters to the influx of migrants who cater to the demand for domestic and construction workforce. Given their constrained finances, this sector has no choice but to make do with whatever accommodation comes their way. Sometimes, tenants are even discouraged from using toilets as landlords add a condition that more charges will be applicable for such a facility. This is a huge problem that the government has to address immediately, failing which the state’s fields and beaches will turn into public lavatories, destroying the state’s paradise image.

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