The lack of toilets in Chillarwadi
This is another example of a state where people excrete in the open.
In Chillarwadi, a village located in the Murbad taluka of Thane district, there is no access to toilets.
All ages of people excrete openly in the fields, from the elderly to the young. Women suffer primarily because they have to wake up very early in order to excrete first, followed by men. Revati Hindora, a local, spoke with us about the daily problems these women face regarding toilet facilities. She stated that so many diseases are spread as a result of open defication
.It is a village with a population of nearly 250 people, most of whom are Thakur Adivasi. In this village, children are only permitted to complete their education up to 12th grade. After that, the only means of earning a living is either working on a construction site, or working in agriculture. The only nearby city for them is Murbad. They commute there to work each day.
Boys in this village also get married after the age of 21, which is the legal marriage age. Also, in the event of pregnancy emergencies, women are faced with a great deal of difficulty due to the lack of reliable roads leading to the city. Upon approaching the village, there were literally no signs of roads, as we could only see trees. There was no sign on the road indicating the name of the village. We had to find our own way.
A foul odor emanates from this village as a result of the abundance of waste. In this village, people simply throw their garbage near the dam, which exacerbates the situation. The situation is particularly problematic during the monsoon season, because garbage sometimes gets scattered throughout the village or even gets thrown into the houses of residents.
As a result of the village's isolation, we asked Kantilal Thombre, a 21-year-old married man, if anyone from the village had ever visited major cities such as Mumbai or Thane? In response, he replied with a firm "NO". Additionally, Arun Wagh, a local, said, "We have not yet tasted fancy food dishes such as pizza or burgers, as we have not yet had the opportunity to eat them."
Returning to the main problem of the absence of toilets, the Sarpanch of the village does not bother to assist. The locals were promised that toilets would be constructed with the water facility during the last election, but to date there have been no signs of toilet construction. Despite the Shiravali dam being adjacent to the village, water cannot be provided to the toilets.
There are toilets, but they are not useful
Due to a lack of water inside the toilets, toilets built in 2017 are on the verge of demolition.
The locals say that we were very happy when the government built the toilet facility for us, but unfortunately they forgot that the toilet facility should also have water inside it, which was not present.
