CHENNAI: Calling public toilets in Ayanavaram a nightmare would be an understatement. But, for the scores of urban poor who have to bear the brunt of inadequate sanitation facilities here, the nightmare is a part and parcel of their life. Ayanavaram being a microcosm of the lack of sanitation facilities in a city has only 750 public toilets for a population of 5 million.The public toilet in the narrow lane of 2nd street, Ambedkar Nagar is a standing example. Residents say they have stopped using the toilet because it suffers from a host of structural problems, including a blocked sewer line, lack of power supply and an empty watertank. Infact, the unbearable stench is given least priority in their list of woes.“Most of us do not use this toilet because the doors are missing and there is no electricity. The caretaker and his son who look after the toilet do not clean it frequently. It is a public nuisance,” said Natarajan, a local electrician.Some residents allege that miscreants have taken advantage of the situation and are using the toilet for illegal activities. “We often find empty bottles and injection needles dumped in the toilets. Some outsiders are also using the toilet as a gambling spot now. It only creates additional problems,” asserted P Anthony.But for C Elsa, another resident, the toilet is a haven, despite being riddled with problems in infrastructure.“The toilet is the only resort for families like mine that do not have individual latrines in their houses,” she said.At Chinna Babu street in Nammalvarpet, where the vegetable market thrives, the scenario is quite different.One public toilet, 400- odd vegetable sellers and no caretaker: the workings of an over utilised toilet that is managed poorly.The vegetable-sellers have been left with no choice but to hire their own caretaker. “All of us have pitched in money to hire a cleaner to wash the toilets for `20/day. We only bought the mugs and buckets for the toilet. We will feel much safer if only the Corporation built a gate for the toilet, said K Lalitha, a vegetable seller.Referring to the long wait to ‘go’, G Anand, who has stationed his make shift workplace in front of the toilet, said, “There is one toilet for ladies and one for gents. But, since the tap broke in the gents section, we are all now using the ladies toilet only.” An RTI filed by Transparent Chennai, a project of the Centre for Development Finance, IFMR in October 2010 revealed that there are only 49 public toilets in Zone 4 (Ayanavaram) that comprises a population of approximately four lakh residents.This number itself was a stark contrast to the number of toilets in the initial list that was submitted by the zonal office 20. As a part of their pilot study on public toilets, Transparent Chennai has been involved in mapping and identifying the quality of the toilets in Zone 4. The on-going field survey that is nearing completion was based on questionnaires prepared by the research team that were filled using information collected from the toilet caretaker and users at each toilet.The survey highlighted the problems faced by the residents in Zone 4 that has a marked slum population, said Somya Sethuraman, researcher at Transparent Chennai. The field report showed that women and children were not making efficient use of the toilets.“Women encouraged their children to defecate in the open because they were afraid that they might get infections if they use the public toilets,” she said.Not only are the residents compelled to pay to use some of the toilets in low-income settlement areas, but they also have to bear the brunt of defecating in the open as some toilets are locked at night.At present, Transparent Chennai is working to revive the city sanitation plan.
Comments
0 comment