The blight of open defecation that was prevalent in the border villages falling under Hardanahalli Gram Panchayat limits in Nanjangud taluk is now a thing of the past.
A number of villagers have been declared open defecation-free with all the households there having individual toilets built for them. The beneficiaries for whom the toilets were constructed now act as ambassadors and speak of the benefits of household toilets to fellow villagers in a bid to get them to follow suit.
The success is largely thanks to officials, including the Panchayat Development Officer, who convinced the people of six villages coming under the GP.
The situation today is in sharp contrast to the state of things about 20 months ago, when a majority of the houses in the gram panchayat limits had no toilet at all. “But today, out of 2,020 houses, 1,780 houses have toilets while the remaining will have the facility within a month,” said Mahadevaswamy, the PDO.
He told The Hindu that Hardanahalli, Huchagani, Ibzala, Katuru, Basapura and Alliamapura villages together have a population of over 12,000, and what was shocking was that just four or five of the households there had toilets attached.
Awareness drive
According to the PDO, getting the villagers on board proved to be a herculean task. An awareness drive was conducted on the health hazards of open defecation. “People resisted in the initial stages but relented eventually,” he said.
The officials went to schools and educated students about the importance of having toilets as open defecation was not only a health hazard but also an affront to an individual’s dignity. So what started as an official-led mission transformed to a community-led sanitation movement and ultimately, even members of the public joined in cleaning the pavements and roads, according to Mysuru Zilla Panchayat CEO Shivashankar.
After gaining the confidence of the public, officials spoke of the government scheme under Swachh Bharat Mission and sought applications from the villagers for financial assistance in toilet construction.
Though a cluster of 24 houses have no space to build toilets, the officials have decided to construct community toilets and hand over the keys to each household to use and maintain on their own.
The Union government provides ₹12,000 to families belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities for constructing household toilets. Those from the general category receive a grant of ₹5,000.
