CHENNAI: For the 80 houses in Marwadi Totham in Mylapore, a single public toilet lies fifty metres away from the settlement. The residents do not have toilets in their houses, and therefore all have to rely on the eight toilets available, which is located just next to train tracks.
“You should have visited us just last week. The toilet was rebuilt and opened on Monday, and look at how its condition has deteriorated in just four days. The water pipes were broken and the building was in a really bad shape earlier,” said Suresh, a 31-year-old resident, adding that water and electricity issues ran frequently. The women’s restroom had four cubicles, of which two of the three Indian-style commodes were in a usable condition, but the other Indian-style toilet and singular Western-style commode had dirt and faeces stuck to the sides. The building, despite having twigs, branches and dirt on the floors due to the strong winds on Thursday, was not in a dilapidated condition.
Vijayammal, a 63-year-old resident, explained that the women in the community took it upon themselves to clean the washrooms regularly, and have unofficial schedules for its upkeep, as they claim that there is no effort from officials to maintain the restrooms. “We women usually go together. If you are like me, and don’t have any family members, we just ask our neighbours to come with us late at night. But what usually happens is that boys will peep over from the tracks and cat-call us,” she said.
Data collected by Transparent Chennai from the zonal offices and Chennai Corporation in 2011 revealed that there were 572 toilets in Chennai, but RTI data revealed that there were 714 public toilets. Transparent Chennai’s 2015 report stated that the number of public toilets is inadequate for the population.
“As per national statistics, there has to be one public toilet per 50 of people for the slum population and one per 100 people for the transient population. However, a recurring theme we found through our research was poor maintenance. Additionally, we found that the facilities were defunct, with blocked drainage, water and electrical problems, which led to gender safety-related issues.
Additionally, most toilets are open only from 5 am to 10 pm, which the Corporation claims is to reduce vandalism, but poses as an issue for women, the elderly, and children, which can lead to cases of open defecation,” said Satyarupa Shekar, Director of Urban Governance, CAG, when referring to the work she did with Transparent Chennai and the Chennai Data Portal Programme. She added that the locking of the toilets posed another problem for slums, as the toilet was their closest and sometimes the only source of water. However, she explained that the Corporation also is trying to only protect their property from vandalism or misuse.
“From our work with the Corporation, most of the engineers are either civil or mechanical engineers. Their problems intersect with each other, and the lack of social engineers means that the Corporation is only dealing with issues in a certain way. There has to be a holistic approach to administrative decisions, especially when problems intersect so that solutions can intersect as well,” she said.