Even as the Modi government’s Swachh Bharat campaign is aiming to make all places in India open-defecation free, a village in Bihar is simply refusing to join the mission.
No house in Ghazipur village in Nawada district, which has a population of about 2,000, has a toilet at home. Villagers go to fields to relieve themselves, reports Hindustan Times.
The reason? Villagers believe that anyone who tried to build a toilet ends up in tragedy. Basically, they think a toilet brings bad luck.
Why do villagers think so? Well, the superstition dates back to 1994 when Siddeshwar Singh, an affluent farmer, lost his son to a mysterious disease while he was constructing a toilet at home.
Since then, a spate of similar incidents have assured the villagers that building a toilet is a bad idea:
- In 1996, another villager Ramparvesh Sharma lost his son while they were building a toilet in their home
- In 2009, a person who took up a similar initiative ended up with a broken hip and leg
- The most recent case happened earlier this week when the local block development officer met with a road accident after visiting Ghazipur. He was trying to popularise better sanitation in the area
But someone now has taken up the challenge to fight the superstition. Nawada district magistrate Manoj Kumar told Hindustan Times that he will visit Ghazipur and try to convince the people to construct toilets.
Here’s hoping he succeeds.
HYou can watch the video here: