Open defecation-free city? Residents of Anjaneyar Colony beg to differ

COIMBATORE: Every time they cross a narrow lane separating the corporation limit and the Irugur town panchayat and enter a panchayat land to relieve themselves out in the open, the residents of Anjaneyar Colony near Ondipudur in the city wish they were residents of the panchayat.
The panchayat provided basic facilities to the residents, unlike the city corporation.
Though the city corporation was certified as open defecation-free (ODF) in January 2017, more than 50% of Anjaneyar Colony residents continue to defecate in the open. They neither have household toilets nor a community toilet in the locality, which has over 150 houses.
“Until a month ago, we had bushes around our locality to hide while answering nature’s call. But, owners of those lands cleared the bushes and turned the places into residential plots. Now, we walk over a kilometre to a patta land in the panchayat region to hide behind bushes. We are often threatened by reptiles. Children and our elderly defecate in the sewage drain in front of houses,” said N Anandhi, 29, a resident.
More than reptiles, Anandhi is afraid of miscreants clicking photos of women when they relive themselves. “We are concerned about the safety of our daughters and sisters,” she told TOI.
The colony, which has a temple, an anganwadi centre and a community hall, lacks a community toilet, said V Meena, 21. “We are ready to walk even if it is constructed a bit away from the colony. But, we definitely need one for the sake of our children.”
Like the other families in the area, Meena’s 15-member family had got free patta from the state government for a piece of land in the colony in 1987. Some families had started constructing concrete houses under the basic services for urban poor (BSUP) scheme in 2008. But the houses remain unfinished even after a decade.
Corporation officials had promised Rs 1.20 lakh under the scheme in three instalments, Meena said. “So far, we have received only one instalment. My father is a labourer and hardly finds job all days. With his income, how are we supposed to finish the construction without any assistance? When we can’t even manage to construct a roof over our head, how can we construct a toilet?”
Corporation officials had conducted a census in the area two years ago and identified 90 houses to construct individual toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission, said V Senthil Prabhu, 35. “While the construction of the toilets was midway at 17 houses, the officials asked the remaining people to construct toilets on their own and then claim Rs 12,000 from them. But, we never heard of them again. After we submitted petitions to collectors, three sites were selected to construct a community toilet. But nothing happened. While those who reside in panchayats enjoy all the facilities, we are left in the lurch despite paying a higher tax. By the speed the vacant lands are converted into buildings, we won’t be left with much space to defecate.”
Corporation commissioner J Sravan Kumar promised to look into the issue.