More than half of all homes in Nepal have no toilet, figures show

 Oct 7, 2011, 14:13 GMT

Kathmandu- Some 57 per cent houses in Nepal do not have toilets according to government figures released Friday.

According to the Department of Environmental Sanitation and Natural Disaster Management, a recent study shows that only 43 per cent households have sanitation facilities.

Those without toilets relieve themselves into streams, rivers, forests and open fields.

The figures come in the wake of a government plan to provide people with basic toilet facilities by 2017.

The government currently operates sanitation programs in over 200 villages and four municipalities across the country, under which two districts have been declared 'open-defecation-free' zones.

Every year, scores die and hundreds suffer from diarrhea and cholera due to contaminated water in Nepal.