The 2011 Housing, Household Amenities and Assets Data, released by the Directorate of Census Operation, Karnataka, validates the fact that Yadgir - Karnataka’s youngest district, is one of the most unlivable regions in the State.
Yadgir was carved out of Gulbarga as the 30th district in April 2010 with the objective of decentralising the administration.
But the region has still a long way to go on the path of progress. According the census data, Yadgir, one of the most backward districts, has no proper access to drinking water, lacks toilets and reels under power scarcity. The district is represented by Dr A B Maalakaraddy, a Congress legislator.
The residents of as much as 81.6 pc of houses in Yadgir defecate in the open, as only 11.2 pc of the houses have toilets. In other words, 88.8 pc of houses have no toilet facility.
The figures are not that rosy when it comes to State too. About 48.8 pc houses in the State have no toilets and residents of 45 pc houses resort to open defecation. However, the number of houses without latrines has decreased to 49 pc from 62 pc in 2011.
People in about 70 pc to 75 pc of households in districts like Bagalkot, Bijapur, Bidar, Raichur, Chamarajanagar, and Gulbarga defecate in the open.
Bangalore and Dakshina Kannada are the only two districts which have a majority of houses with toilets - 94.8 pc and 92.7 pc, respectively.
To add to the lack of hygiene and sanitation, is the drinking water crisis. Only 47.1 per cent of the houses in Yadgir district have access to potable water and 40.6 per cent of the houses don’t have access to either tap water or any other source of water.
When it comes to the State, 66.1 per cent houses have access to tap water and 18.2 per cent houses lack access to either tap water or any other source of water. About 18.2 pc fetch drinking water from a source located more than 500 mts away in rural areas or 100 mts in urban area.
About 79.1 pc of houses in Bangalore city get tap water, while people in only 18.6 pc of houses in Udupi drink tap water. Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu too have very few houses having access to tap water. Yadgir is also the poorest lit district in the State. Only 77.9 pc of the houses in the district have electricity supply.
The census data also shows that most North Karnataka districts fare only slightly better than Yadgir in terms of development. About 90.6 per cent of the houses in the State have access to electricity, registering an increase of 12 points over 2001. The rural-urban gap has reduced to 8.6 pc compared to 2001.
About 90.6 pc of the houses in the State have access to electricity, an increase of 12 points over 2001. As much as 98 pc of Bangalore houses are lit by electricity.
The census data disclosed that of the 1.31 crore houses surveyed, 78.81 lakh houses (60.1 pc) are in “good” condition; 47.14 lakh houses (36 pc) are in “livable” condition; and 5.16 lakh houses (3.9 pc) are in “dilapidated” condition.
The figures reveal that the joint family system has been on the wane in the State. Most households preferred nuclear families and 70.1 pc of houses comprise just one married couple.