The Times of India          05.10.2010

Only 600 public toilets in city

CHENNAI: Chennai city has only 600 public toilets! With each of the 10 zones supporting a population of around 4 lakh this is disturbing, say a few young, urban planners who are out to make public information available to the common man through TransparentChennai.com

"This means that many in the city don't have access to sanitation. We also found that the location of the toilets had very little relationship to slums in the area, residents of which would be most likely to use them. In one area we found many on the main road, of course they could be where slums existed earlier. But we also found that several were not used everyday," said project lead of Transparent Chennai Nithya V Raman, who did her Masters in city planning from MIT, US.

It found that while some zones had 100 toilets, others had barely 20. It also noticed discrepancies in keeping records of such data. Enquiries with the corporation revealed there were 20 toilets in Zone 4, comprising the areas between Villivakkam, Ayanavaram, Sembium and Perambur, whereas a RTI application disclosed 40 toilets.

Researcher Somya Sethuraman, involved in the project, said, "In Zone 4, more men than women were using toilets. The users were 70% male and 30% female, and in some places women's latrines were used by men as women refused to come. Such information threw up questions about how sanitation for women is still out of their reach, despite the government's efforts. This could also throw up the idea about whether it would make more sense for the government to fund private toilets in individual houses rather than construct public conveniences."

The data is collected through RTI applications, through questionnaires to presented to local bodies and other stakeholders. The website gives the number of public toilets in each of the city's 10 zones. There is also a detailed map of locations and user details for 20 toilets in Zone 4. Clicking on any toilet shows the results of the user, caretaker and observation survey. The data has been updated till September.

The website, aimed at promoting transparency through citizen engagement, was launched by IFMR's Centre for Development Finance and supported by Google.org's inform and empower initiative and ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth. It was launched at an event organized to mark World Habitat Day at the University of Madras on Monday.