In an interesting turn of events, a non-political outfit in Cuttack held a protest in front of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) office with a commode in hand in order to attract the attention of the civic body to defunct toilets in the city.
The outfit, Subash Sangathan alleged the Mayor never listens to the plights of the Cuttack residents and demanded to make all the public toilets functional in the city before Bali Yatra.
“We had protested earlier with buckets and mugs at the same place for the opening of those toilets too. The Mayor had said he would definitely open those toilets in two months because it was made with public money. But he defaulted in his promise. That is why we are again protesting here. We want the toilets to be functional before Bali Yatra this year,” said a member of the Subash Sangathan.
“At a time when Central government toilets are being made in Rs 20,000 under Swachh Bharat Mission, the CMC has spent approximately Rs 25 lakh for each toilet. But despite spending so much in toilets, they are dysfunctional since their inauguration 11 months back,” he said.
Similarly, another member of the Sangathan said, “The CMC is shameless. And they think the Cuttack people are fool. It is our bad luck that we have got a Mayor like this.”
It is pertinent to mention here that four public toilets were set up with the expense of lakhs of rupees at four places in Cuttack during the Hockey World Cup. But those toilets have remained closed since then for 11 months.
No comments could be received from the CMC authorities in this connection.