BIRGUNJ, July 14: The Birgunj Metropolitan City is one of the total six metropolitan cities in the country and the only metropolitan in Province 2. The metropolis, however, is still struggling to get the status of open defecation free (ODF) zone as some 4,220 households here still do not have access to toilets.
Most of the houses at Bindabasini (Birgunj Metropolis-19), Prasauni Birta (13), Ramgadhawa (24), Batuwa tole (25) and Udaypur Ghurmi (23) which were lately integrated into the then Birgunj Sub Metropolis to form the metropolitan city in a new local level structure have no toilets.
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According to the local government, most of people of five wards are forced to defecating in open in a lack of toilets. These wards are home to 29,963 populations and only a few of them have access to toilets.
The total populace of the metropolis is 240,922 (127,227 women and 113,694 men) and only the population of 23 wards have toilets at their homes. The Metropolitan City Office has cut off its facilities to the four percent population without toilets at home.
Metropolis Mayor Bijay Sarawagi said toilets are being constructed for those 4 percent population of five wards and they are likely to be declared ODF zone in a near future. There are abundant complains that lack of sufficient number of public toilets inside the town have forced travellers also from India to hold when the nature calls.
