PUDUKKOTTAI: Irregularities in allocation of household latrines under Swachh Bharat Mission are forcing a section of those at Kothamangalam panchayat in the district to resort to open defecation, rue villagers. Finding their petitions going unheeded, they even took to a protest in front of the Collectorate earlier this week, demanding toilets under the Union government scheme. R Chandra, a labourer from Ambedkar Nagar in the panchayat, said, "I have been residing in the same place for the past 20 years.
There is only one room in my house; I have to cover a distance of 2 km at least twice every day to attend nature’s call." V Suganya, another labourer from the same village, said, "I am widowed and have two girls. If one gets sick with diarrhoea, things would become unmanageable.
Our everyday life is difficult because of a lack of toilets.” On rainy days things get worse as the accessibility to those places where we usually go to defecate in the open is curtailed, she added. C Sasikala, the district secretary of Revolutionary Communist Party, said that several other villages are reeling under the same problem.
Either allotment of toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission is not proper or no inspection takes place to check whether the public have benefited from the scheme. We demand the district administration’s immediate attention in the issue, she added.
When enquired, Kothamangalam panchayat president V Shanthi said, "It is not just with Ambedkar Nagar but many other villages in the panchayat suffer the same issue. There has been no proper response to it. It has been three years since we got fresh allotment (of latrines) under the scheme." When contacted, P Gokula Krishnan, the block development officer at Thiruvarangulam, under which the panchayat falls, said, "I have sent an officer to the panchayat to understand the ground situation. After receiving proper inputs for the requirement of toilets, we will place a request for the same in the upcoming allocation (under the scheme)."