Saptari district is a leading district in terms of education and public awareness in the country. However, it would come as a surprise to many to know that 87 per cent of the population of the district defecates in the open.

According to RSS, this bitter fact was made public in a report released by the Drinking Water and Cleanliness Division Office, Saptari at an interaction on 'promoting cleanliness in the Tarai' held at Portaha of Saptari on Wednesday.

According to the report, of the total 114,121 households in the district 98,599 households lack a toilet in their homes.

The number of households without a toilet was 99,669 in the previous fiscal year and this means some 1,070 households constructed a proper toilet in their home in the fiscal year 2067/68.

In Portaha VDC, of the 874 households, only 100 households are using toilet to defecate.

Likewise, the number of households with drinking water facilities is 72 per cent while 28 per cent are still deprived of running tap water, according to Chief of the Division, Pradip Lal Karna.

At the program organized by the Environmental Cleanliness and Natural Calamity Unit, Saptari Chief of the Unit, Ram Chandra Shaha said the Unit is working with the target of reaching the percentage of the Saptari population with access to toilet facilities to 53 per cent by 2015. nepalnews.com