At a time when measures targeted at doing away with open defecation are given priority, the tribal villagers of Yelagiri Hills have a different tale to narrate. A majority of them have no access to toilets, and this, they say, is causing them a lot of hardship.
More than 75 per cent of the houses in the 14 villages of Yelagiri Hills have no toilets. Even the two public facilities in Athanavoor and Punganoor villages remain locked, the villagers said.
“We hear news of toilets being constructed in many villages to put an end to open defecation. But no toilet is being constructed for us. Only a few houses, say less than 25 per cent, have toilets. There is a government scheme to construct individual toilets for houses but that has not reached the hill,” said a villager, who did not want to be named.
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He added that Yelagiri has been witnessing rapid construction activities over the years. “As buildings are coming up everywhere, we do not have a place to relieve ourselves. Hence, we are in dire need of toilets,” he said.
Ramasamy, another villager, said in the absence of toilets, the villagers, especially women, were put to hardship. “It is difficult to go out at night. We had approached the panchayat members asking them to construct toilets for us but nothing was done. Political parties, while campaigning for elections, promised to construct toilets but now, all that has been forgotten,” he said.
A former member of the panchayat said they had regularly raised the issue during meetings.
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“There was a plan to construct toilets for 300 houses but that did not materialise. Allotting Rs. 11,000 or Rs. 12,000 for each household to construct toilet would not be adequate for villages on the hill as we need to bring all construction materials such as sand and bricks from the plains. This will cost more, especially for transportation,” the member said.
The member said that they had already asked the district administration to provide additional funds for constructing toilets.
The toilet facility for tourists is also minimal. “The two public toilets near the Athanavoor bus stand and boat house at Punganoor remain locked. There is a pay-and-use facility inside the boat house, while there is another free facility inside Nature Park. But visitors will have to pay for the entrance for the park to go inside,” a villager noted.
Mobile toilets are put in place only during the summer festival every year.
An officer of the Rural Development Department said they had planned to construct toilets for each panchayat in Jolarpet block. “We may not be able to cover all the houses now. But we are planning to construct toilets for 30 to 50 houses under the Total Sanitation programme,” he said.