Believe it or not, about 310 houses in Aldona do not have toilet facilities. Despite repeated efforts by a resident to highlight the issue, the Aldona panchayat has allegedly not enforced the need to have toilets in houses, while issuing occupancy certificates to the owners. Unhappy with the Aldona Panchayat for taking the issue lightly, residents passed a resolution at the gram sabha of Aldona on Sunday, stating that the panchayat should not issue occupancy certificates to new houses without proper toilet facilities. Jonas Correia of Carona-Aldona informed the Gram Sabha on Sunday that he had undertaken a survey, which revealed that about 310 houses in the village did not have toilet facilities. "I then enquired whether the Aldona Panchayat had implemented my suggestion made three years ago, that no occupancy certificate should be given to houses unless they have toilet facilities,' Correia told Herald. "At a gram sabha three years ago, I had submitted a list of 260 houses in Aldona village that did not have toilets. I had also informed the panchayat that people in these houses were defecating in other people's properties,' said Jonas Correia. "I was told that the work of checking the house plans was that of the Town and Country Planning and Health Departments. But once the plans were approved, the Panchayat did not bother to check if the house had an inbuilt toilet or a separate one provided in the property,' Correia said. While he was not sure if a Sulabh toilet was added to any of those 260 houses, Correia said he had undertaken a recent survey in the last two months and found out that 50 additional houses were built without toilets. "Unofficially, two panchas informed me that these houses are mostly illegal constructions or those built by the poor labourers,' said Correia. Correia pointed out that the problem was not restricted to residential structures. "Most of the bars in Aldona do not have a toilet. As a result, customers urinate behind the premises or in adjoining lanes,' Correia added. When contacted, Aldona Sarpanch Vallabh Polle admitted that it is mandatory for new houses to have toilet facilities. "In fact, the Town and Country Planning Department as well as the Health Department issues No Objection certificates only after confirming that the new house has a toilet facility. The panchayat issues an occupancy certificate on receipt of these clearances,' said Polle. He informed that the panchayat issues occupancy certificates only after verifying that the houses were built according to plans approved by the Town and Country Planning Department. "Most of the houses identified by Correia could be either old houses or some illegal structures built by poor people. If villagers insist on some action, the panchayat can send notices to these houses,' said Polle.