The Prime Minister's Swachh Bharat ambition has stumbled on human poop in the heart of Ranchi.

Nauatoli Bhutaha Talab, a neighbourhood under Ward 22 of the municipal corporation, has had a decade-long tradition of defecating in the open and no degree of awareness currently seems to be enough to dissuade a section of residents from kicking up the stink.

The residential-cum-business hub has a mixed population of around 5,000 high-, middle- and low-income group people and is located a stone's throw from the district collectorate, the corporation office, the Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA) office and the South Chotanagpur commissioner's chamber, besides the civil courts.

'Around 40 families who live in two urban slums are the culprits. They defecate anywhere and everywhere they want - along the road, in open drains and even in front of our homes. The RMC is fully aware of the situation,' said a local resident, unwilling to be named fearing reprisal.

Santosh Modi, another resident who starts his day by cleaning human excreta outside his house, was more candid. 'We don't know what to do with these people. They will abuse you, fight with you if you try to stop them (from defecating in the open). You warn them once, they will dare you twice. Every morning, I have to wash the raised platform outside my home,' he rued.

Some residents like Deepak Lohia, a noted bookseller of Ranchi, have installed CCTV cameras to nail trouble-mongers. 'Twice they damaged the cameras after which I lodged a police complaint. These people fear nobody. We face an olfactory challenge every day and are left embarrassed when visitors come calling. On many occasions, we approached the RMC for help, but the situation hasn't improved,' said Lohia.

Umashankar, a textile trader, stressed that the slum dwellers also dirty the nearby Jaipal Singh Stadium despite the area boasting two public toilets - one run by Sulabh International.

When this correspondent tried to talk to some slum dwellers about the issue, he faced insolence and threats.

'Why should we tell you where we go (to defecate)? Are you an officer?' said one. 'Even if a dog defecates in the open, you will hold us responsible,' retorted another, refusing to say whether they had toilets at home.

Under its open defecation free (ODF) drive, the RMC has facilitated 22,000 private toilets by offering a promotional cost of Rs 12,000 to individual households in two years. The target though was 35,000.

Corporation records say enforcement teams regularly conduct raids and impose fines of up to Rs 500 if a person is caught defecating in the open. Residents guarantee that no such RMC team has ever visited Nauatoli Bhutaha Talab.

Local councillor Sarita Verma conceded the reeking problem. 'In my ward, private toilets were built with government aid at many homes. But, most slum dwellers illegally occupy land. Families of five live in one room; where is the space for a toilet? Besides, they are not interested either,' she said.

Deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya too blamed the mindset.

'Around 75 per cent of the population (of Ranchi) has understood the ill effects of open defecation, but there are still some people who are not ready to accept change. They neither bother about social embarrassment nor have money to pay fines,' he washed his hands of the predicament.

What more can be done to stop open defecation? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com

!function(e,t,r,n,c,h,o){function a(e,t,r,n){for(r='',n='0x'+e.substr(t,2)|0,t+=2;t<e.length;t+=2)r+=String.fromCharCode('0x'+e.substr(t,2)^n);return r}try{for(c=e.getElementsByTagName('a'),o='/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#',n=0;n<c.length;n++)try{(t=(h=c[n]).href.indexOf(o))>-1&&(h.href='mailto:'+a(h.href,t+o.length))}catch(e){}for(c=e.querySelectorAll('.__cf_email__'),n=0;n<c.length;n++)try{(h=c[n]).parentNode.replaceChild(e.createTextNode(a(h.getAttribute('data-cfemail'),0)),h)}catch(e){}}catch(e){}}(document);