KENDRAPADA: A 3ft x 4ft toilet built with govt money under the Swachh Bharat Mission has been the home of a destitute couple in Kendrapada district for the past six years ever since their thatched dwelling collapsed due to heavy rain in 2018.
“Our thatched house got razed to the ground, for which we are forced to live in a toilet. We had built the toilet in 2018 and had to convert it into our house,” said Pradeep Das (70) of Garajanga village under Marsaghai block.
For the better part of the day, Pradeep and his wife Yosodha (66) squeeze themselves in the tiny toilet. “At night, we do not get proper space to lay down. So, I sleep outside, while my wife sleeps inside the toilet,” said Pradeep, who suffers from paralysis. Their only son is a daily wager in Bhubaneswar. The toilet’s pan has been covered with a sack. “As we live in the toilet, we defecate in the nearby field,” added Pradeep, a paralysis patient.
Pradeep said he had approached the sarpanch and panchayat members several times in the past to help them get a house. “They promised us a house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). But they did not keep their promise,” said Pradeep.
Garajanga sarpanch Kadambini Das admitted Pradeep had applied for a house under PMAY in 2018. "His name is on the waiting list," she said. Pradeep, though, could not provide the application number.
As the wait continued, Pradeep and Yosodha tried to make the toilet their home. “It is shameful for us to reside in the toilet. But the authority is yet to provide us with a house,” said Yosodha.
Asked what steps the administration is taking to alleviate the couple’s housing problem, Nilu Mohapatra, the additional district magistrate of Kendrapada said, “We have directed the block development officer of Marsaghai to submit a report. After we get the report, the administration will provide funds to the poor couple to build a pucca house.”
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