Towards A Healthy Life…
Every country
in this world is unique and interesting in its own way. India too is different, every household here
has a different culture and accordingly their way of life is also different.
Not just in terms of culture, India also has an incredible variety of traditions,
customs, food items etc. However, the interesting point is the sanitary habit
of India is a bit different too. Talking about the differences, it reminded me
that India is the only country where one can defecate openly. Surprisingly till
date, nothing much has been done to stop it.
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| Open defecation (Source: http://www.daytodaygk.com/pm-modis-hometown-open-defecation-free/) |
Open defecation
is a habit and many do not refer it as an issue, at all. States like Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand has more homes which does not have toilets than
those which actually have it and being used. Our country has world’s largest
population of people who defecate in the open and excrete close to 65,000 tonnes
of faeces into the environment each day.
If the data has still not given you
goose bumps, let me tell you another shocking fact that the practice of open defecation is the main reason for the highest number
of diarrheal deaths among children. Every year, diarrhoea kills 188,000 Indian
children who are under the age of five. It is disheartening to know that 80
per cent of children’s faeces are left in the open or thrown into the garbage.
The dangerous effect of the habit can be determined by the fact that one gram
of faeces contains 1 million viruses, 1 million bacteria and 1,000 parasite
cysts which are enough to make us ill.
Surprisingly, this
heart taking data still has not gained enough attention by our political
leaders as it should be. The sad news is that there are people who still think
that constructing toilets is the responsibility of the government, if they want
to stop open defecation. Government of India has also taken various initiatives
about it and now offering Rs.4, 000 to every household for construction of a
toilet.
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| Urinating in public (Source: http://zikoko.com/gist/world-toilet-day/) |
However, the agony
is that it is not only limited to few states, open defecation is also a problem
in big metropolitans like Delhi or Mumbai or small cities like Guwahati in the Northeast
India. I am sure, irrespective of the city or town you live, you cross many
places several times a day where you need to cover your nose and pass. People are
not concerned about it, at all. Even, the public toilets are not cleaned
properly on a regular basis so that even the willing ones can not actually use
it. The public toilets which are meant for our convenience rather create
problem for us.
Though, different initiatives of the government have created awareness
in people in the villages but there is also a lot to be done in the cities too.
Sadly, few of the organization have clean toilets. It is the responsibility of the
people who either pass by or use the public toilets to give note about its
condition to the municipal corporation of the respective city. However, the
municipal corporations should also vigil the public toilets and check their
conditions.
Once, the public toilets are properly cleaned and well maintained then
government should strictly restrict people from open defecation by imposing
strict punishment against it. The expected mothers must be taught and should be
trained on how and where to dispose the faeces of their children.
Finally, everyone must come forward and raise our voice for a safe and
healthy environment; we should not let anyone play with our health and should
demand for toilets, clean toilets.
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| The right way: Use toilets to save your health (Source: https://vidushisandhir.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/open-defecation-in-india-facts/) |