VELLORE: Residents of Thadco Street in the 19th ward of Vellore Corporation are demanding better drainage facilities and to allow access to the public toilet, which has remained closed since it was completed in 2014.
The toilet building which has a borewell with water tank is being used by residents to fetch water to meet their needs and was built under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) at a cost of `5.50 lakh. Residents claim that their repeated pleas to the local body and the councillor to allow access to the toilet have been in vain. Local residents say that the toilet was completed last year after the project was put on hold for no reason in early 2013.
“We have no idea why the Corporation built the toilet and did not open it for the public,” said a woman resident. Some residents felt that the toilet has been constructed in the middle of the residential area and they want the toilet to be relocated to the nearby open space.
Drainage is also a worrying factor for the residents of Thadco Street. The drainage water stagnates in the channel for weeks and it is cleaned by corporation workers only once a month, which poses serious health risks to the residents.
Another borewell has been drilled and a water tank installed further down the same street several months ago which has also not been open to the public.
“We have not received any complaints about locked toilets in Thadco Street. I will conduct an inspection and will take appropriate action in the following days,” said an official in zone II of Vellore Corporation.
Repeated phone calls to councillor E Pushpavali were in vain.