Loo and Behold! Not these stink pots

We knew public toilets in Bengaluru were stinky and dirty. But a visit was a real eye-opener. Many toilets did not have locks, most did not have water and almost all did not have a proper building. Remember, these toilets are the only places for slum women to defecate,” says Anitha.K, who conducted a community survey with women’s welfare NGO Vimochana.

The ugly side to the IT city includes garbage littered, bad roads, open drains and traffic menace. The ill-maintained toilets are darker and even more depressing. Although Bengaluru touched the 1 crore population mark many years ago, there are less than 600 toilets open to the citizens. Of these, only 220 are functional, whereas most of the newly added BBMP areas do not have public toilets at all.

And in areas such as J.J Nagar, Nayandahalli, Shanthalanagar, Jeevanbima Nagar which are thickly populated by slum-dwellers, the demand is very high, reveals Anitha. “Earlier, using public toilets cost 50 ps, then Rs 2. Now, cashing on the demand, the guards at public toilets demand Rs 10 from women who want to defecate and Rs 5 from those who want to use urinals. These public toilets are meant for poor men and women. How can they spend so much on basic facilities every day?” demands Anitha.  

Acknowledging the demand for more public toilets, the BBMP conducted a survey in September-October in order to ascertain the working conditions of the toilets. Since the survey report does not classify the number of toilets in each zone and the required number, the BBMP officials are in the process of grouping the results. And following the state government’s approval, the BBMP will begin the works on constructing public toilets in 250 locations, says special commissioner Subodh Yadav, who is also in charge of toilets under Swachh Bharat mission projects.

Read | ‘BBMP’s toilet planning has gone awry’

He says, “During the administrator rule, the BBMP proposed to construct 2,000 toilets across the city. In a follow up to this, we have sent a request to the state government. When approved, the BBMP, on public-private partnership (PPP) basis, will give land on lease to corporate firms. They will invest, construct and maintain public toilets in markets, slums and other areas.” Mr Yadav stressed that the focus was on maintenance of public toilets and along with the need for more toilets, there was also need for good, quality toilets.

“The long-term aim under Swacch Bharat is to eradicate open defecation in slums and even non-slum areas. We are targeting the behavioral aspects of both the users of public toilets and those who should invest in public toilets. Since the BBMP will not spend any money on const ructing around 2,000 toilets, our aim is to provide hygienic toilets,” Mr Yadav added.

381 School toilets built in a year under Swachh Vidyalaya initiative
 
According to the District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15, it was discovered that around 300 schools in the state were functioning without proper toilets. But a year after, in 2015-16, 318 toilet complexes were built in the needy schools under various government schemes and with the help of public and private sector corporate companies under their CSR initiative.

According to the MHRD officials, through SSA, RMSA and state government funding, 317 toilet complexes were targeted in the academic year 2015-16 and works of all these toilets completed. Public Sector companies have built 62 toilet complexes while other private sector corporate companies have built 2 toilet complexes in schools. “Under the Swachh Vidyalaya initiative now all the schools in Karnataka are provided with toilet complex facilities,” explained an officer from MHRD.

Swachh Bharat Mission: Are we getting anywhere in Karnataka?

According to the latest data released by the Union government, even though huge number of projects, works were granted based on the demand received from the state, the number of completed
works is very minimal, raising questions over the speed with which projects were taken up.

According to the Physical Progress reported up to November 2016 released under the SBM, the number of applications received for building household toilets was 3,00,061. Out of them work has commenced in 1,45,577. But completed toilet works are just 8,669! A similar trend has been witnessed even in building of community toilets, public toilets.

Even in waste processing, the state is yet to make any remarkable progress. According to the data, a copy of which is available with the Deccan Chronicle, it was the state of Gujarat which has made the highest percentage of progress in all the indicators prescribed under the SBM.

Even the other states like Andhra, Telangana, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have made significant  progress in the completion of the works compared to the  sanctioned works.

Data has revealed that Karnataka needs to implement the project more aggressively as lakhs of households still do not have proper toilets and open defecation is one of the major issues in our rural areas. An officer working with a Zilla Panchayat said that even after aggressive campaigns followed by funding, around 2 lakh households in the state are yet to get a toilet, which is one of the serious concerns.

Speaking to this newspaper, an officer who is keeping tabs on what’s happening observed that this data reveals how the project is poorly monitored. “Community toilets, public toilets, are one of the major indicators towards improving our public health sector. Need of the hour is reaching the target. Many districts in the state including Mandya, Koppal, Udupi, Mangalore, Bengaluru urban and rural districts have made significant progress. But the biggest issues are with the few backward districts of the state, especially from North Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka region,” he explained.