Chennai: The village, which has taken forward steps towards development has an aggressive problem to deal with: open defecation. The dissolution of the civic body is the arterial reason for the delay in taking up the Swachh Bharat scheme at the village, said officials from the Manjakkudi Panchayat board.
S.Banumathi, a 35-year-old woman working as a casual labourer here, is worried about her adolescent daughter who goes to the fields to relieve herself. “At nights, it is indeed very difficult for us to go out in the pitch dark. But we have no other choice,” Banumathi, who is awaiting the implementation of the central government toilet scheme said.
There are barely 70 toilets in the village of 250 families, of which 55 were constructed only last year through the Swachh Bharat scheme. Kaliya Perumal, former Panchayat president said, “The central government allocates Rs 12,000 to construct a toilet. We had utilised the scheme last year. However, as the post is now dissolved, the status of the scheme remains unknown.”
As the amount sanctioned per toilet is not sufficient, the AIM for trust organisation supported us financially, he added.
