Jademma from Ballari recently visited religious hill stations like Bababudangiri, Mullayanagiri, Sitalayyanagiri in Chikkamagaluru district along with her family. What she took away from it was not just good memories. Faced with the issue of absence of public toilets despite lakhs of visitors, she wrote an emotional letter to President Droupadi Murmu explaining the difficulty she faced in going to the toilet and has requested for basic facilities such as toilets in tourist places.
In her letter to President of India, Ms. Jademma said Ms. Murmu is an inspiration and a symbol of confidence for a common woman like her and the primary purpose of her letter is to confess the pains of ordinary women.
“A few days ago, we visited Bababudangiri, Mullayanagiri, Sitalayyanagiri with family. Pressure to urinate started at Bababudangiri, but there were no toilets anywhere on the top of the hill. After resisting that pressure, we went to Mullayanagiri, but there was none there. We searched in Sitalayyanagiri, there were no toilets there either. At last, I endured the shame and humiliation and relieved myself in the plains,” she said in the letter.
“The lack of toilets at religious shrines and tourist places like Bababudangiri, Mullayanagiri, Sitalayyanagiri has violated the privacy and dignity of many women like me. No one knows the stress of natural calls better than you. Because women know the hardships of women. Not having a single toilet is a violation of Article 19 and 21 of the Constitution,” she explained.
“Even after 75 years of independence, we are talking about toilets. It is a tragedy that we, who have reached the courtyard of Mars, have not built a toilet in Bababudangiri and other places. Therefore, we request you to order immediate construction of toilets in these three hills which are visited by lakhs of people every year. Construction of toilet soon will end the suffering of many people. We hope that you will solve this problem immediately. India is the diabetes capital of the world. Diabetic patients are also more dependent on the toilet. So if you are determined to build a toilet here, people of Karnataka will never forget you,” Ms. Jademma narrated in the letter to the President.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Jademma said, “These three religious hill shrines attract lakhs of people every year. How has the district administration neglected to build a basis facility like toilets there? There are a few toilets in the Bababudangiri which are poorly maintained and impossible to use. There is not a single toilet in the Mullayanagiri, Sitalayyanagiri. I can’t explain the problem I faced there. Therefore, I have written a letter to the President of India and I have some hope that the toilets problem of these places may be resolved soon.”
K.N. Ramesh, Deputy Commissioner of Chikkamagaluru said, “In Bababudangiri, every year we are organising two major religious programmes — Datta Jayanthi and Urus — and lakhs of people attend them. Many toilets are there and we will also install temporary toilets when the number of pilgrims increase. But Mullayanagiri and Sitalayyanagiri are in the forest and Bhadra wildlife buffer zone area, where construction is not allowed. Therefore, we cannot provide any toilets there. However, en-route to the hill shrines, there are various hotels, homestays and tourists are free to those toilets.”
