Patna: Authorities in Bihar have taken into custody around 140 people, after they were caught defecating in the open despite repeated warnings.
The arrested villagers were later let off with a stern warning and on payment of fine of Rs500 (Dh28) each.
It is the first time in Bihar authorities have launched a crackdown on villagers defiling public spaces.
Until now, officials had been embarking on awareness drives about cleanliness — urging the villagers to build toilets at home while informing them about the importance of sanitation.
The bizarre drive against open defecation has been launched in Sitamarhi district, revered by Hindus, some 140 kilometres north of Patna. The place is considered by Hindus to be the birth place of deity Sita.
Reports said a team of officials led by the district magistrate Rajiv Raushan made surprise inspections at various places in the district in the wee hours on Tuesday and took into custody 86 villagers found defecating in the open.
The arrested villagers were taken to a local police station where each had to pay a fine a penalty of Rs500 before being let off.
The authorities also imposed fines of Rs1,000 each on the village council chiefs concerned for failing to ensure the villagers had toilets at home.
This was for the second consecutive day that the authorities launched a drive against open defecation. Earlier on Monday morning, the authorities had arrested 52 people from along the Sitamarhi-Sursand road during a surprise check.
Reports said the authorities were perturbed over the conduct of the villagers who would love attending nature’s call in the field despite repeated warning. Quite many were such who were defecating in the open despite having toilets at home.
The villagers refused to mend their ways even after the authorities enforced section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which deals with “desisting people from carrying on, or to remove or regulate in such manner as may be directed, such trade or occupation, or to remove such goods or merchandise, or to regulate the keeping thereof in such manner as may be directed”.
Eventually, a team of officials led by the DM made a surprise inspection in the areas and nabbed the villagers who were later let off with a stern warning.
Earlier on Sunday, a senior official from southern Bihar’s Aurangabad district had kicked up a major controversy when he allegedly suggested the villagers to sell their wives if they can’t afford to build toilets at home.
According to an official report, around 16.5 million households out of over 110 million populations in Bihar currently do not have toilets in their homes, forcing the people to defecate in the open.
Right now, only about 3,000 villages out of total over 44,000 in Bihar have been declared free from open defecation.
