Bamboo toilets for the poor

The government in Bihar is constructing bamboo toilets for the poor living in the rural parts of the state, according to a senior state government official.

The low cost toilets, the official said, will have their doors and roofs made of treated bamboo easily available in the region.

As of now, 1.8 crore households in Bihar do not have toilet facilities compelling the villagers to defecate in the open.

“The initial response has been tremendous and we hope this model will be a running success”, the principal secretary of Public Health and Engineering Department HC Sirohai said.

He said the department was training carpenters and masons for constructing such toilets for the poor.

Very recently, the department had begun constructing toilets for the families below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL) under its total sanitation plan but the government was able to construct only 21 lakh toilets so far.