With this, Bhaktapur has become the 10th district to achieve ODF status in the country and first one the Kathmandu Valley. The ODF campaign helped adding toilets in 3,435 households here within two years, said Rajendra KC, the Local Development Officer (LDO) of Bhaktapur. [break]
All 62,000 households have now access to toilets in the district. The District Development Committee had provided minor support to 700 households who were economically weak to build toilets in 16 VDCs and two municipalities, added KC.
The office had also constructed public toilets to make sure that the people do not suffer at public places. At the inaugural function, the World Heritage Site was filled with national as well as international participants of the SACOSAN. The residents of the historic town also displayed the local culture, reflecting the fusion of the traditional and modern life in Bhaktapur.
The two-day conference that intends to develop a regional agenda on sanitation, enabling learning from past experiences and to set future actions for all the eight SAARC member countries would begin in the Capital on Tuesday.
Altogether 400 people, including 250 from seven SAARC countries, 100 from Nepal and 50 as an expert and the representative of national and international organizations are participating in the conference.
The participants would cover eight themes of sanitation and health, community-wide sanitation and sustainability, school sanitation, sanitation technology and marketing, media advocacy and sanitation, urban sanitation, knowledge and networking. Though data indicates Nepal has met Millennium Development Goal target on water and sanitation, only 50 percent of the water supply schemes are functional, and the sustainability of the sanitation practices and behavior are still dissatisfactory to ensure public health.
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