Bio-toilets not functional in many areas in Chennai

Chennai: In its efforts to improve health and sanitation standards, the Greater Chennai Corporation installed bio-toilets at nearly 350 locations across this metropolis at a cost of '60 crore last year. But a year later, the majority of them are either non-functional or closed.

Residents in areas where the environment-friendly bio-toilets were installed say several of them have been locked ever since they were inaugurated a year ago. When Deccan Chronicle visited the city looking for functional bio-toilets, it returned with disappointment as the facilities in Besant Nagar bus stop, Baby Nagar in Velachery, Taramani Main Road, Jawahar Nagar in Perambur Loco Works road and Pondy Bazaar in T. Nagar were closed.

“The bio-toilets have remained locked ever since they were installed. There is no point in installing these when they serve no purpose. It is just another example of how taxpayers money is being wasted,” says V Chandrasekhar, president of Senior Citizens Group of Besant Nagar.

With these new bio-toilets not functioning, many interior streets are used for open defecation. People tend to defecate next to locked toilets, which leads to foul odour in the area. The toilets are located on pavements, which makes it difficult to even walk through the place, residents say.

Chitra Awasthi, a resident of Jawahar Nagar, says, “The toilet in Jawahar Nagar on Perambur Loco Works Road remains locked, people defecate behind them, which makes the place unhygienic. The foul smell irks the residents of the area.”
Owing to ill maintenance, even the toilets that are open are of no use to the public. Blocked drains, broken doors, no water connection and garbage dumps next to these toilets are the common issues that are encountered at every bio-toilet.

Though these toilets are provided with direct sewage connectivity for easy disposal of sewage, blocked sewage link makes them unfit to use, the residents allege.

“I have never found these bio-toilets to be of any use. How can the public be expected to use the toilets with no doors? In such cases, they should be completely demolished,” says Daya R, a resident of T Nagar.

When contacted, Greater Chennai Corporation officials claim that attendants on a regular shift of eight hours are maintaining toilets and cleaning them.
However, queries regarding the toilets being locked and closed were unanswered as they seemed unaware of such situations.

(Inputs from Vaishawale B)