Mysuru: Tiger attacks spur construction of toilets at DB Kuppe villages

Mysuru: When officers launched an awareness drive for villagers around D.B. Kuppe range attached to Nagarahole National Park on construction of toilets are every home, they paid no heed but when a man-eater killed three men, there’s a rush for construction of toilets so everyone could stay indoors after dusk.

Chinnappa, a resident of Hulumatti on the edge of D.B. Kuppe, was a victim of tiger attack after he went inside the forest to defecate early this week. This episode resulted in D.B. Kuppe Gram Panchayat office receiving 15 applications within a couple of days from villagers. This rush has surprised PDO Prashanth as he remarked that a few have already commenced construction of toilets at home bringing materials from H.D. Kote. “We pay Rs 15,000 for those opting to construct toilets at their homes under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan,” adds Prashanth.

In D.B. Kuppe GP limits, Hulumatlu and Bhogapura needs to be covered while Machoor is partially covered under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. At Hulumatlu and Bhogapura have around 70 houses and an estimated 8 houses have toilets and rest of the residents venture into the forests opposite to their villages to defecate risking lives and encountering wild animals at night.

An estimate says that nearly 280 households in the gram panchayat limits do not have toilets at their homes and use forest areas to defecate while tribal hamlets will get toilets constructed after Forest Rights Act (FRA) issues are settled. Director of Nagarahole National Park Narayaswamy told Deccan Chronicle that he will impress upon officials of rural development department to get toilets constructed in left over villagers so as to avoid human-animal conflict in the region in future.