Bajura, November 7

One year after the district was declared open defecation free zone, authorities in Bajura have come up with punitive measures for the effective implementation of the declaration.

According to Badimalika Municipality acting executive officer and drinking water and sanitation coordination committee coordinator Siddharaj Joshi, all the VDCs and municipality in the district had adopted punitive measures lately. “The district was declared an ODF zone on November last year, but as the people have yet to quit defecating in the open, a fine from Rs 500 to 3,000 has been introduced to make the locals change their habit,” said Joshi.

“In Martadi, if anyone is found defecating in the open, they are fined,” said Joshi, adding that over 25 persons were fined for defecating in the open so far.

The punitive measure was introduced as a lot of people had still been defecating in the open in district headquarters Martadi and Badimalika municipality.

“We didn’t have any other option except imposing fine as people were reluctant to quit defecating in the open,” said Barhabisa Secretary Keshavraj Puri.

Meanwhile, people have started using toilets for fear that they would be fined.