RAJBIRAJ: Despite being declared open-defecation free zones, around dozen VDCs in Saptari are performing very poorly in terms of use of toilets. The fact came to light during a monitoring carried out by Drinking Water and Sanitation Coordination Committee in coordination with Sanchar Yatra Nepal in Malahan and Pipra Paschim VDCs today. The villages were declared ODF zones about three months ago. Most houses in the villages do have a toilet but hardly use them, given the long-held habit of open defecation. In Pipra Paschim VDC-1, of the total 64 households, majority of the households of the Musahari settlement don’t use the toilets they have built. Rather, the facility has been put to use for some secondary purpose such as storing fodder for the cattle and other things. Children Network Pipra Paschim Vice-chairperson, Bidhya Basnet, however, attributed the non-use of the toilet facility to shortage of water. “As there is acute water crisis, villagers in wards 2, 3 and 8 cannot use the facility even if they want to, for in the absence of water they cannot clean it after use,” said Basnet. The situation is no different in Malahan VDC as locals were forced to build toilets by village authorities to get more funds from the DDC in recognition of their status. According to members of the monitoring team, most people were found to be in the dark about the right way of using the toilet.