PM's adopted village lacks awareness to use newly built toilets

VARANASI: The residents of ‘Modiji ka Atal Nagar’, a newly built colony for the dalits in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s adopted Jayapur village, are bound to go for open defecation, as the toilets are useless in want of water supply.
“Tanki mein pani nahi ata hain isliye hum logon ko bahar jana padata hai”, (There is no water in (overhead) tank, hence we have to go in open (for defecation), said Mukhai Vanvasi, one of the occupants of 14 one-room pucca houses of the colony having solar light facility and a beautiful garden with exotic plants.Each house of Atal Nagar has a room, toilet-bathroom, kitchen and a small courtyard. Although every house also has a roof-top water tank, but it is useless in want of water supply.
The World Toilet Day (November 19) is observed to motivate and mobilize people on issues of sanitation, but most of the newly constructed toilets in Jayapur, which was adopted by the PM in November last, are in bad shape or not utilized due to lack of maintenance and awareness as well. About 500 household toilets and eight community toilets were constructed in the village in last one year. Some villagers complaint that the quality of construction was not up to the mark. There is no provision for maintenance of community toilets.
The community toilets constructed near the panchayat building wear an ugly look with broken water tanks and unhygienic condition. Narayan Patel, who looks after village affairs on behalf of gram Pradhan Durgavati Devi, admitted that the community toilets and other newly provided facilities like tiled roads need maintenance. But, he is not sure how they will be maintained. He, however, said that efforts would be made to take up maintenance work after panchayat election.
According to Patel, 500 household toilets were constructed in the village having a population of about 4000. The toilets were constructed with pre-fabricated material. “But the quality of these toilets are not up to the mark,” said a villager Santosh Singh.
Though the toilet facility has been provided to each household, the practice of open defecation still continues in the village. Most toilets remain unused, as people preferably go in open. Obviously it is just due to lack of awareness.
However, the village after adopted by the PM witnessed a great change with facilities like solar street lights, piped water supply, bank branches with ATM facility, post office, tiled roads, modern anganwadi, new girl school, and garden chairs. The village also held a function recently to celebrate its first anniversary of adoption.