Shell out Rs 500 for defecating openly in Bhopal

This move hasn't gone done well with the locals.

Bhopal, Jan 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wishes to see every home and school to have access to toilets by 2019 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has laid out schemes to sabotage open defecation. Taking a stringent measure to end the menace, the Bhopal administration now plans to hurt the pockets of those defecating out in the open. The Bhopal Municipal Corporation declared that a fine of Rs 500 would be imposed on those caught defecating openly.

News agency ANI quoted Mayor of Bhopal city Alok Sharma saying that toilet facility has been provided to the people dwelling in slums and despite of that they defecate in the open. He also said that they will be asked not to do so and still if they continue then their pockets will hurt.

Sharma further stated that if workers of builders are found in this act then the builder will have to shell out Rs 1000.

This move hasn’t gone done well with the locals. A local resident of Bhopal told ANI that “the hefty fine will be difficult to pay as we earn Rs 200. Also, we do not have Rs 1,360 to pay to the civic bodies for getting a toilet constructed.

In 2006, World Bank had estimated that India was losing 6.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product annually because of poor sanitation.