Men, women and children at Vadderigudem, a habitation under the Tirumalagiri gram panchayat of Pedda Adiserlapalli in Nalgonda, are an exceptional category. They have no toilets, effectively.
“Men squat on the roadside, women and girls go into the tall grass. It must be easier for men, since we have other issues. And there are swarms of mosquitoes always, sometimes snakes, in the grass. So we go together,” the huddled up women pour out.
Vadderigudem, named as its maximum habitants belong to Vaddera caste, has been a formal settlement for decades. Once an arid place, thanks to Hyderabad’s drinking water project, the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project at Puttamgandi, Vadderigudem has high water table for nearly 20 years.
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According to Orsu Venkamma, “Water is just two feet under, so leach pits or septic tanks are not possible. I don’t have an option, I am aged, overweight and have joint pains. But the place gets really dirty whenever I use the toilet,” she says.
But, how did the administration construct Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) under Swacch Bharat Mission?
“They said it was mandatory. They photographed the toilet pan and the door, and later released ₹12,000. We requested sarpanch and MLA who came for votes, and voted for them, but the actual problem was not solved,” another woman Yadamma said.
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Women say there are about 150 of them, who work in self-help groups, who brought pressure on the panchayat and mandal leadership during elections, for toilets. One leader had promised to buy half-acre land on the far side of the grass, to build a septic tank, so that sewage pipeline could be drawn from each house and the waste sent there.
“We thought that would be a solution, but it did not work,” younger women, including newly-wed, a few nursing students and college-goers, said.
Latest reports available on the State and Centre’s SBM (G) websites confirm that 151 new toilets were built, of which 45 are in Vadderigudem, in Tirumalagiri. They were photographed in the three stages, two fund transfer orders of ₹6,000 each were realised, and a 100% IHHL coverage was achieved.
And subsequently, two years ago, Tirumalagiri, along with 560-plus villages in 31 mandals in Nalgonda was declared Open Defecation-Free.
For the aggrieved women of Vadderigudem now, they see only one remedy:
“The only reason to be in Vadderigudem is agriculture, but toilets are not possible. For the same reason, there are even no visitors or guests here. This village should be banned and we should be relocated. We wish to talk to CM KCR,” they say.