CHENNAI: With only one of the four community toilets functioning in Gandhi Nagar on Pulianthope High Road in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zone where there are more than 400 households, the residents, especially women, are forced to wait until nightfall to relieve themselves. The other toilets have either been encroached upon or damaged due to poor maintenance.
A community toilet complex with five seats each for men and women is currently used by the residents while another with 10 seats nearby is damaged. Two toilets, which were built by the slum clearance boards more than two decades ago, have been encroached by residents adjacent to the facilities, said the residents.
“I came to this locality after my marriage 30 years ago. Since then, I have been struggling as there are not enough toilets. Earlier, we used the open grounds nearby. The whole area has now become congested. Most men have bikes and go to other places if they have to relieve themselves. As they also go for work in the morning, we let them use the community toilet on priority,” said G Jayalakshmi, who runs a small shop in Gandhi Nagar.
A woman from the locality maintains the toilets as there is no permanent staff appointed by the civic body, they added. “A month ago, relatives came to our house and were disgusted by the state of the toilets. There is no proper water facility and we have to wait in a long queue to use the toilet,” said G Punitha, a daily wage labourer.
Her 22-year-old daughter, G Indumathi, said, “There are at least 300-400 young girls in the locality and we can’t use the toilet when we want to due to irregular water supply, lack of hygiene and poor maintenance. For more than 500 households, having mere 10 toilets is not enough.”
Meanwhile, Corporation officials said that there is no drainage facility in the slum because of which the two toilets have been encroached. “We are planning to construct more toilets nearby and a proposal is being prepared,” said a Corporation official.