“A plea for sanitation” – excerpts
Last week while in Bengaluru, I chanced upon this article which highlighted the dire need for clean toilets – especially for women – in India.
The bit about almost 100 school-children having to use just one toilet was the saddest part…Lack of clean toilets in schools and the almost complete absence of hygienic public conveniences should be a matter of national shame – and a top priority….Could one reason for this state of neglect be that most planners and govt. officials are men – who may find it hard to sympathise with the other half of India?
Excerpts from “A plea for sanitation” by Riva (Deccan Herald)
“My work is whole day long and yet, I cut down my liquid intake for I am scared of not finding public toilets to relieve myself,†says Geeta, a 21-year-old slum dweller who sells vegetables on the streets of Bangalore.
Being poor, she faces two-fold difficulties, the unavailability of public toilets, which could be used free of cost and the unaffordability to access ‘pay and use’ toilets. “I cannot pay Rs 2 each time to address nature’s call,†adds she.
Geeta’s problem is emblematic of the toilet travails faced by millions of people, particularly women across India’s teeming cities and rural areas. Less than 30 percent of India’s 950 million strong population has access to proper sanitation as against 73 per cent in Vietnam and 56 per cent in Zimbabwe. Over 70 per cent people across our cities and villages are deprived of toilet hygiene and safe drinking water. And in a society like ours where women are forbidden even to speak about their bodies, one can imagine the difficulty with which they manage their bodily functions in unshielded areas.
To protect their dignity and maintain a sense of privacy, they go only in the early morning or late at night, often becoming easy victims of molestation. “I go with my mother early in the morning to the railway track to ease myself,” says 14-year-old Jyoti, who sells Jaipuri handicrafts along the roadside in Yeshwantpur.
The plight of schools is no different as far as sanitation is concerned. Most of the schools, both in rural and urban India, do not have proper toilets. …Improper sanitation and unsafe drinking water are the major causes of some widespread deadly diseases and epidemics that wreck our country. According to Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), a single grain of faeces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 eggs of worms.
Approximately 700,000 children die every year in our country due to diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and such diseases resulting from poor hygiene.
“There is only one toilet-room at each floor, too filthy to be used, but yet being used by almost over 100 students and some teachers,” exclaims Shekhar, a private high school teacher in Sunkadakatte. Children have to go out in the open or shell out money in ‘pay and use’ toilets each time. This is one of the major reasons for girl students to drop out of schools after 5th standard.
Recently, a Hindi news channel covered a story of a school in Bihar where teenage girls were blackmailed and harassed by their male teachers who threatened to disgrace them by circulating their pornographic MMS they had made taking advantage of the inadequate infrastructure (roofless bathroom) of the school.
This is a very important topic that India must address. The problem is not in poor parts alone, even in government schools and colleges across the country (even good ones), sanitation facilities are poor. Lack of water, poor sanitation habits, and the will to do something leaves much to be desired. No wonder everytime India is talked about in other countries, the first complaint is sanitation.
The only solution to this is community action. Each community must come together, build the sanitation facilities and take responsibility in maintaining it. I have heard of a few such projects that have been successful in some parts of India, and specially since these are community operated, the success rate in maintenance is higher. I just hope such efforts are more widespread. If our intellects focussed more on such basic issues that on defining who is human and who isnt for human right purposes India would be a much better place.
One interesting effort in this direction is
http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Magazine/story/india-sanitation-success/
Dear Sir,
Today I came across an article in the newspaper that was totally revolutionary.
I understand that there is a Kalyana Mantap near a place known as Theni, in Tamilnadu, South India, where both the Bride and the Bridegroom have to produce Medical Certificates stating that both of them are free from the HIV virus before they can conduct the marriage in THAT MARRIAGE HALL.
This development took pace because a lot of women from around that place have lost their husbands to that dreaded virus.
In the same manner I think any festival or religious congregaton should provide for disposal of waste and complete sanitation before permission is granted for that religious festival is conducted.
I have seen in a number of places like China, Malaysia etc. where mobile sanitation vans are provided for the tourists. They have disposable waste bins which can be removed and replaced at frequent intervals depending on the flow of visitors.
In India in view of the TOTAL FREEDOM without RESPONSIBILITY it is neccessary that proper methods are used to incite members of the public to use these type of methods.
One of the methods would be to call on the religious heads to invite all their followers to use these facilities. Again as many of the people who come to these places during festival times may not be able to afford the cost of pay and use faciliites, it is neccessary that the Mutts and the Akharas etc. to completely provide these facilities free of cost.
I am sure many of the rich followers of these groups will not scrimp if their name is given enough PUBLICITY!!!
By the way I have used bold lettering for the marriage hall as I am sure some Human ights Activist will see to that this Marriage Hall is punished for the well meaning Act!!! as according to them it will an invasion of privacy.
I am sure they will also promote Widow remarriage rather than this INVAION OF PRIVACY!!!
Regards,
vck
@ Vidhya: Thats an excellent link…Thanks for that…
@ vck: Great ideas…unfortunately I am not sure how many of these will really be implemented…
I believe that in the end, clean sanitation needs to be “profitable” for someone to take the effort to provide it…and I believe it can be – as Fuad’s story (pl. see Vidhya’s link) has shown.
A glimmer of hope. From Student brings lack of women’s toilets to court’s notice
Dear Sir,
The study makes interesting reading. The problem is that we do not look at the other side. The MCD plans a toilet for 500 people; Without any control the people around do not take responsibility , they permit their friends and relations to use the place indiscriminately, and with the help of the local politician and the don they create chaos. We then introduce the caste and religious facto into it.
What can the MCD do? Let the people of India learn to handle themselves responsibily and a certain sense of pride in themselves.
i am sure any amount of studies nor toilets for that matter will help us unless we help ourselves.
Regards,
vck
*** COMMENT EDITED ***
sir
a lot has been heard regarding cwg 2010 , infact to hear words like impeccable drainage system , world class city , etc are quite common.
but surprisingly ground reality is quite the opposite. to see the ground reality i request you to please visit okhla industrial area phase 2 as well as phase1.
there is the S BLOCK of okhla industrial area phase 2 you will find that around 1000 (YES YOU READ IT RIGHT ) women **** 45 ft road each day
…metro is building a very large parking at okhla station , but it is a big mystery to me how will people reach this site since sanjay colony slum has encroached most of the roads and the area is too dirty for any body to cross.
does the govt. want to show this world class infrastructure , impeccable drainage system to the visitors ?
when i went to china in april i was surprised to see their industrial area . cant we even have a good pot hole free road in the capital of india?
here in okhla street lighting is not there , there is no place for parking , all parking sites have been encroached by slums.
please let me know your views regardind the above or our govt will grow the bamboo trees around the okhla industrial area and will hide all the realty.
thanks
akc
(an ordinary citizen)
@ akc: Pl. be sensitive in your choice of words. The fault does not lie with the unfortunate women who have to go through this humiliating experience every day…
While you and your colleagues (merely) have to bear the stench, they loose their dignity every morning, day in, day out.