At around 4 a.m. every morning, G. Pavithra, a 20-year-old girl from Narthamalai, makes it a point to wake up and then wakes up her sister and mother after which they head to a nearby quarry to urinate, defecate and if they are menstruating, also change a sanitary napkin for the day. The next time they will do this is only after sundown as their houses do not have proper toilets.
The 100 houses at the samathuvapuram at Narthamalai in the district, established in July 1999, have turned structurally weak. Behind some houses, are little rooms. They were once meant to be toilets but now they are used to store firewood or rear goats as sewage pits were not dug or connected to any sewer line, a village elder says.
Pavithra, is now an MBBS student at a government college in Kerala. She has spent the last three months at home for the first time since going off to college. She says that after using a functional toilet in her hostel, going out in the open is proving to be tough. “Even though I am studying on a scholarship, travelling to and from Kerala costs at least ₹2,000. I am unable to ask my parents for a toilet as I know it would be a financial burden,” she says. Her father works at a quarry like most men in the village but has been out of a job for a while. The women in the samathuvapuram have become accustomed to open defecation. A small enclosure made by erecting four tree branches and wrapped by old sarees is a dedicated space where the women change their sanitary napkins. “We ensure nobody is passing by our house every time we need to change,” Ms. Pavithra says. Dehydration and urinary tract infections are common.
The village panchayat president M. Velu has just begun construction of a toilet complex behind his home. “The cost is high (₹ 70,000 for a toilet and a bathroom) but I have two young daughters and want them to be safe and healthy,” he says.
The samathuvapuram seem to be in a state of neglect. The villagers claim to have submitted several petitions to the district administration requesting repairs including leech pits for the toilets and at some of the damaged houses.
When contacted, a senior officer of the District Rural Development Agency, assured to conduct an inspection. “I will have the colony surveyed and based on their needs, a common toilet block or individual toilets will be constructed,” he said.
