A Decade After Open Defecation-Free Declaration, Musahar Settlement in Dhanusha Still Lacks Toilets
9 Asar, Janakpurdham – Although Nepal was declared an open defecation-free (ODF) country around eight years ago, residents of a Musahar Dalit settlement in Dhanusha district still have to resort to open defecation. Despite government investments in the ODF campaign and sanitation, most families in Pachharwa Musahar settlement, Ward No. 5 of Sahidnagar Municipality, remain without toilets.
Urmila Sadak, a resident of the settlement, faces the daily hardship of defecating in open spaces. Without a toilet at home, she has to go to the fields either early in the morning or late at night under darkness. “It is embarrassing to defecate in open places, and some landowners even verbally abuse us,” she explained. “This problem is even more complicated for women.”
The settlement comprises over 100 households, but only three have toilets. The rest have been defecating in fields, bamboo groves, and riverbanks for years. This ward was declared open defecation free in 2018 (2075 BS), yet this Dalit community remains far from sanitation facilities. According to local resident Shobhendra Sadak, about 370 people live in the settlement. Elderly individuals, women, men, and children all are forced to defecate in the open. Locals like Parmadevi Sadak said some families lack land to construct toilets, while others cannot afford the cost.
She added that some have not built toilets in hope of government assistance. Parmadevi noted that women have to go to the fields at night after men sleep or before dawn. “There is fear of snakes and venomous insects, and the worry of being seen by others,” she said. “The problem worsens during the rainy season when fields flood.”
According to Ramdayal Sadak, central secretary of Harwacharwa Rights Forum, more than a thousand families in Sahidnagar Municipality lack toilets. Most families in the settlement are landless and do not have enough land or funds to build toilets. Residents only own small homes but no additional land, making them dependent on the fields of others. This situation raises concerns not only about sanitation but also about human dignity and safety, Ramdayal said.
Ramdayal further stated that open defecation has polluted the environment around the settlement. “The absence of toilets has increased the risk of diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and other diseases,” he explained. “The lack of sanitation particularly affects children and the elderly.” He also said that over a thousand families in Sahidnagar alone remain without toilets. Similarly, poor settlements in Sabaila, Videha, Mithila Bihari, and Kshireswarnath municipalities in Dhanusha also continue to face toilet shortages. Nepal was declared an open defecation-free country in 2018 (2075 BS), becoming South Asia’s first to claim this status. However, the situation in Pachharwa Musahar settlement casts doubt on the effectiveness of this declaration.
Despite billions of rupees spent on sanitation campaigns, basic facilities have not reached marginalized, Dalit, and landless communities, said local youth Kamlesh Yadav of Sahidnagar Municipality. He emphasized that the achievement of open defecation-free status cannot be fully meaningful until the sanitation rights of impoverished Dalit communities are guaranteed.
