Left with taste of bile in their mouth after losing out in the race to be declared an open defection free (ODF) district to Panchkula and Sirsa, Yamunanagar officials have decided to deploy drones to police the open fields near villages. With much fanfare, CM Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday had declared Panchkula and Sirsa districts ODF.

Yamunanagar was at third position on the list.

heisterinsurance.com

The district officials' decision to monitor certain fields using drones came after the discovery that people were defecating in open despite having functional toilets at home. As a pilot project, six villages of Bilaspur block of the district are now under the gaze of flying cameras.

Those caught in the action will be dealt with sternly, promise local authorities.

To make the plan work, a committee has been set up that has residents of the six villages and officials from various departments as members. The panel would ensure proper functioning of the drone and analyze the details gathered by it, says assistant coordinator of Swach Bharat Abhiyan Bhupender Singh. "We have paid Rs 3,000 for renting the drone for use in seven panchayats. Now the trial report will be submitted to the top officials of district administration, who will decide whether to continue," he added.

imgur.com

The drone will fly between 5 am and 9 am over Kakroni, Feruwala, Harnoli, Ramagarmajra, Khera Brahmin, and Sahpur villages.

"If it really helps make the area ODF, we will go ahead and buy some drones of our own," Singh adds. There are 1.47 lakh households in the district, out of which 43 thousands households have functioning toilets, according to district officials. More are being added every day , they say.

"This solution was suggested when we found that people from the households having toilets go to answer the nature's call in open. We have to break this habit but we will have to take into confidence the locals residents to go further," says deputy commissioner of Yamunanagar S S Phoolia.