Residents of this village still defecate in open space

Majority of houses in this village do not have toilets. Those who have, are not using them. The toilet complex constructed two years ago has never been used. And, a community toilet constructed in another part of the village lacks supply of water, and has therefore been closed.

This sorry state of affairs can be seen at Ingalagi village in Hosapete taluk. This village, which comes under Papinayakanahalli Panchayat, is located on Hosapete-Ballari Road, eight km from Hosapete. The residents of this village defecate in the open, posing a big challenge to the zilla panchayat.

The youths in the village stated that 35 houses in the village have toilets. But, nearly half of these families are not using the toilets. The panchayat officials have not bothered to ascertain the reasons for the remaining families not using the toilets available in their houses.

A toilet complex with 37 toilets was constructed two years ago right in front of Community Hall in the village. However, the door to the complex has not been opened till date.

The youth complained that when they asked the authorities why the toilets in the complex were not opened for public use, the authorities had replied that the toilets would be opened shortly. But, till date they have not opened it.

“We were happy when they constructed 37 toilets in the complex.But only to be disappointed later as they did not open the toilets for our use,” they said.
Panchayat member A K Uday stated that all the toilets were constructed at one place in order to manage the scarcity of water.

“20 toilets were constructed after getting funds. Funds have not been released for the 17 toilets constructed later. As there is no water facility, we have not opened them for public use,” he explained.

Several pleas to release the funds for 17 toilets have been ignored, he complained.

As per the details uploaded in the Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department, 364 houses in the village do not have toilets, and all these families have been asked to construct toilets.