Since October 20, 2017, 65-year-old Sushila Devi from Akabar Malahi, Anita Devi, 45 from Mohamedabad, Shaukuntala Devi from Sultanpur in Bihar’s Vaishali district are pleased as a punch.
And the reason behind this happiness is the access to toilets which were non-existent before 2017.
“A cousin of mine died of snake bit him when he went to answer nature’s call at night. My daughter-in-law and three grandsons were always ill or suffering from diarrhoea but now none of them has fallen ill,” said Sushila Devi.
Anita said that the Mukhiya of her panchayat Sunil Kumar Singh had made this village ODF in 2016 and since then ‘diseases like diarrhoea or cases of snake bites have drastically fallen.
Sunil said more than 700 toilets were built before the village was declared ODF.
Till 2016, Dr Manjay Kumar said patients of diarrhoea, snake bites and other water-borne diseases were turning up at his clinic in large number.
“Now hardly one or two come in a month. It has, no doubt, been possible due to access to toilets”, he said.
Amod Paswan, mukhiya of Akabar Malahi panchayat, said that no incident of crime against women was reported after construction of more than 160 toilets in last few years.
Dr Shivanand, a physician at Hajipur said no patient of infections, stool-borne and water-borne communicable disease are reported due to access to toilets.
“The biggest benefit after access to toilets has come in terms of saving medical bills. As far as crimes against women in fields are concerned, it has also become nil in almost all ODF villages”, said Director General (ADG) of Crime Investigating Department (CID) Vinay Kumar.
Farrukh Khan, regional manager (North) at Water Aid India said: “The ODF has also increased focus of people on hygiene in Bihar.”
Visually–impaired Sadhu Manjhi in Bihar’s Gaya district had done a commendable job by educating villagers on ODF and hygienic aspects by visiting several villages.