BK now feels guilty for not having listened to the locals´ request in the first place. He says, “I should not have denied their request. I, now, realize that a toilet really protects us from communicable diseases.”
He says he would never have built a toilet in his house had not the locals cut off power supply to his house. Local leaders in the VDC had launched a campaign in a bid to declare their village an open-defecation free zone. But when a few of the villagers posed obstacles, the leaders resorted to cutting off power supply to their homes. About 18 households that had earlier refused to comply later built the toilets after the leaders cut off power supply to their homes.
Dal Bahadur Gharti of Boharagaun VDC - 1 also built a toilet in his house only after the local leaders cut off electricity supply to his house. “I now understand that the leaders had done so for our own benefit. Earlier, my family members used to go to a nearby river for defecation at night but now our lives have become easier,” said Gharti.
Of a total of 1,294 households in the VDC, 1,132 households have already constructed toilets in their homes following the campaign, informed VDC secretary Pahalman Thapa. “Initially, it was difficult to make the locals understand the importance of toilet. After we threatened not to distribute their social security allowance and cut off electricity supply, the locals started building toilets in their homes,” said Thapa.
According to him, each household in the VDC have spent over Rs 20,000 to build toilets in their homes. For instance, Man Singh Giri, a local, lives in a hut but has a concrete toilet.
A few days ago, the VDC has been declared “Open Free Defecation Zone” along with 45 other VDCs in the district, informed Water, Sanitation and Hygiene advisor at the District Development Committee Surya Thapa.
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