JOIN USOnly 50 per cent have toilet facility in Chamarajanagar
Lack of awareness among the people about the importance of using toilets is also one of the reason. The other being negligence on the part of netas and babus about construction of toilets.
There are no toilets and underground drains at some of the layouts and slums due to lack of space. The CMC too has failed to construct public toilets. According to an estimate, there are around 11,000 houses, and more than 50 per cent of the houses do not have toilets!
This mirrors the negligence of the officials. One step into a slum, one can not only experience the stench but also see drain water running on roads carrying faecal matter.
Though some of the houses have a small toilet in front of the house, the pipes are connected to the open drain. City poverty alleviation department had implemented a scheme to construct toilets. There are opportunities for the families to construct flush toilets under the scheme, which is in force at seven corporations and 44 CMCs in the state.
A survey has been carried out to identify houses and construct toilets. A tribal and rural development organisation has been given charge of Chamarajanagar CMC. According to its survey, approximately 6,000 families have no toilets. As per the project Rs 9,000 is being given from the organisation for construction of toilets. The Centre provides 75 per cent of funds and the state government 15 per cent, the remaining should be borne by the families.
To be eligible for the scheme, beneficiaries should have a site and possess necessary documents, with the head of the family having an annual income of not more than Rs 17,000.
About 1,800 eligible families have been identified in the city. The statistics has revealed that many families do not have own place for construction of toilets and used water has to be released to the drains.
A list of eligible beneficiaries has been prepared, but unfortunately some do not have space for constructing toilets and do not even have khatas in their names, said organisation director B S Basavaraju.
Some of the families reside on revenue sites and have no toilets. If CMC takes steps to extend the facility to those with revenue sites, more people will be benefited, he opined.