In ODF villages, locals still defecate in open
IRONY Villagers cite lack of water, officials blame locals’ old habits
Out of 1,433 villages in Bharatpur district, 396 have been declared open defecation free (ODF) – 49 in 2015-16 and 347 in 2016-17. However, despite the tag, most of the residents of these villages prefer to relieve themselves in the open, an HT investigation has found.
Some villagers cited old habits while others said lack of water forced them to answer the call of nature in fields even though they have toilets at home.
Bharatpur has 10 panchayat samitis — the block-level panchayat bodies — and 374 gram panchayats under them. One panchayat samiti, Sewar, has been declared ODF with all 33 gram panchayats under it having got the tag. Out of the 374 panchayats in the district, 103 have been declared ODF.
There are 5.65 lakh households in the district of 1,72,807 had toilets built under Swachh Bharat Mission until end of 2016.
HT visited Madoni, Nigohi, Rarah, Aghapur and Malah gram panchayats and found that despite toilets at home, most villagers defecate in the open.
Madoni has 1,104 households; 892 of them have toilets. But most villagers, especially women, go out for defecation. Laxman Meena, the village sarpanch, said people don’t want to give up the old habit.
In Nigohi, all 366 households have toilets and earned the ODF tag but, says sarpanch Virendra Singh, 190 households were still waiting to get the government incentive of ₹12,000 for constructing toilets at home.
“I have written to the district
There is a lack of water in the panchayat. A person needs at least 10lt of water a day but for open defecation, even half a litre is sufficient
authorities for the pending payments,” he said.
District council member Nem Singh said there was a lack of water in the panchayat, forcing people out of toilets. “Each person needs at least 10 litres of water a day for toilet but for open defecation, even half a litre is sufficient,” he said. Singh said the government should work on providing water to villages along with creating awareness for use of toilets.
Rarah was declared the first ODF panchayat of the district, on September 30, 2015. But most residents of the village are still seen defecating in the open.
In Aghapur, 1,202 out of the total 1,450 households have toilets. In Malah, 1,168 out of 1,502 households have toilets. But people from these panchayats, bordering Keoladeo National Park, a haven for migratory birds, cross over the park boundary to relive themselves in the open.
District Collector of Bharatpur Narendra Kumar Gupta said a state-level committee will soon inspect all ODF panchayats.
Zila pramukh, district council, Veena Singh said villagers are still reluctant of letting go the old habit. He too said that district administration should spread awareness among villagers.