A long walk towards Swacch Bharath

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Published on March 19, 2019 by

Many households in the Shahapura taluk still don’t have a toilet.

Many villages in the Shahpura Taluk, Halisagar, Dornanhalli and other still don’t have toilets in households. The people in the village complain of not being able to construct toilets of their own as the fund is r the panchayat delays in providing them said the villagers of Halisagar.

Only 68 households in the village have toilets out 1,253 according to reports by Swacch Bharath Mission, Gramin. The Government of India initiated the open defecation free campaign under the Swaach Bharath Abhiyan in 2014.

The people in the taluk don’t have money to build their own toilets and shortage of water also adds as a cost in maintaining the toilets. “There are around 60 houses in this village, but none of the houses have toilets. The village faces problems due to lack of water facilities to maintain toilet facilities. People fall ill quite often due to open defecation,” said Vrindamma, who lives in Halisagar.

“The toilets here are not clean. Men and women have separate washrooms but mostly everyone defecates openly. We have not received enough funds also to maintain the toilets,” sai Siddamma, who lives in Halisagar.

Experts say open defecation causes health issues as the fecal matter becomes a breeding spot for flies. There is a dire need for proper sanitation facilities as toilets is not just the solution, water crisis should also be solved so as to help people maintain these toilets.

“Open defecating can lead to air pollution as the fecal dust is harmful for body when inhaled. The fecal matter hardens and dries up in sun, later turning into fine powder that mixes with air in form of dust that can be inhaled”, said A N Yellappa Reddy, an environmentalist. He added, “The fecal matter is a good resource when properly managed and used. The need for importing large quantities of urea from other countries can be reduced when these resources are put to use in biogas.”

 

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