Khammam: Open defecation by citizens is not only an issue in villages but also in the limits of Khammam Municipal Corporation.
About 10 per cent of the people in KMC limits still opt for open defecation, a fact that has landed the Corporation to 236th place in the All India Swachh Bharat Survekshan.
Representatives from the Survekshan had seen with their own eyes people merrily going about their business out in the open along the railway tracks in Khammam.
The team members were surprised at the ‘due respect to nature’ in an urban body like Khammam and gave low marks to the Corporation.
About 2,400 families living in various slums in KMC limits did not have IHLs.
As far as rural areas concerned, open defecation is a fact in almost all across the district.
Though some villages do have IHLs but open defecation is part of life, with even people who have IHL in their homes preferring the open air.
People living near to the reserve forests treat the woods as their personal IHLs.
P Sudhakar, a teacher working in Kurnavalli near Tallada, said, “The people need counselling on the issue and they should be made aware of the pros and cons of the system.”
