If you are defecating in open in Bhopal then be ready to pay fine as the civic body have announced a penalty on open defecation.
The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced that it will impose a fine of Rs. 500 on those caught violating the norm.
"We have made toilets for them still many people living in slums defecate in open. We will impose a fine of Rs. 500 on them and request them to not do so. Even if they continue than fine will be imposed," said Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma.
Sharma added if labourers working for builders are found defecating in open, the builder will be fined Rs. 10,000.
Earlier, the civic body had implemented a scheme of constructing 20,000 toilets and installed several modular toilets in different localities of the city to fight the menace. The community toilets were also improved and various measures were taken to promote safety and hygiene in the city.
Locals, however, are not happy with the development.
"Those who have toilets at their home will manage, but where will we go? Where will kids go? We can't pay (fine of) 500 rupees. This is wrong," said a local resident.
Some people even claimed that the civic body asked them to submit Rs.1,360 for constructing a toilet.
"We poor people earn Rs. 200, how will we give them Rs.500 rupees? One has to submit Rs.1, 360 there (in the civic body, for them to make toilets), we don't have that money," said another local.
The United Nations said in May 2016 that half of India's people defecate outside, putting people at risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid.
The World Bank in 2006 estimated that India was losing 6.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually because of poor sanitation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants every home and school to have access to a toilet by 2019, in time for the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth.
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