Yashwant Nagar village has no public toilets
There are no public toilets in Yashwant Nagar in Sandur taluk in Ballari district. Villagers, including women, use a children’s playground as a toilet.
The main road of the village always stinks because the playground is close to it. The ground stinks despite the gram panchayat cleaning it regularly. The reason: People always use it as a toilet because they have no other place to go.
Saran, a shop owner, complained: “It is a big problem for us and travellers as there is no public toilet. It is very difficult for women. The gram panchayat should resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
D. Rasheed, a businessman, said: “Although most villagers have got the government subsidy for building toilets in their house, there are some who haven’t received any funds from any government scheme. So they do not have any other option.” The stench makes people fall ill.
Danish Khan, another resident, shared: “Our village is on the Sandur-Ballari route. A lot of people from our village travel by bus. It is important to construct a toilet near the bus stand so that everyone can use it. It can help our village become free from open defecation.”
Gram panchayat member Lokesh said: “The funds will be released again after a month as the inspection is going on now. The toilet will mostly likely be built near the bus stand, so that everyone can use it.”
Ramya Manjunath, an ex-president of the panchayat, said: “In our village of 10,000 people, we need at least two public toilets. There is a delay in the work by the gram panchayat due to the elections but now this problem will be resolved very soon.”
Manjula N Rao, a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan expert, said: “According to the central government scheme, every village should have at least one public toilet not only for the villagers but also for outsiders. Although the government passed tenders for the construction of toilets, the place was not decided. Hence, they had to take the money back.”
