The Deccan Chronicle  05.10.2010

Oct. 4: Even as the Bangalore Development authority is on the verge of completing rejuvenation work on 10 lakes in the city, it plans to take up development work on 29 additional lakes. This was revealed by BDA commissioner Bharat Lal Meena at the inauguration of the two-day international conference on “Water, Plumbing, Sanitation and Health: Issues and Challenges-A Transdisciplinary approach-2010”, organised by the departments of civil engineering and zoology here on Monday.

“We will be planting trees across the tank bund area,” Mr Meena said. The restoration and overall development of the 11 lakes that were entrusted to the department of civil engineering, Bangalore University, will be taken up at a cost of Rs 104 crore. Almost 95 per cent of the rejuvenation work on the lakes is complete, said H.N. Ramesh, chairman, department of civil engineering.

As part of the project, Ullal lake, Malathalli lake, Kammaghatta lake, Kothanur lake, Konasandra lake, Thalagatpura lake, Jakkur lake, Rachenahalli lake, Ramasandra lake and Venaktapura lake are being given a face-lift.

“We have done the refurbishment of the tank bund, strengthened it and increased the depth by 200 per cent. We have also created a separate small kalyani (tank) with a dimension of 15.7mtr/13.5mtr with three metres depth near the lake for the immersion of Ganesha idols during the festival. And we have made provisions for boating at the lakes. We have already planted 1,000 saplings around the lake,” A.S. Ravikumar, who is in charge of the project, said.

He said: “We have recommended for a sewerage treatment plant at the entry point of the lake and the proposal is being considered. The construction of a sewerage plant has already been taken up at Malathalli lake.” Bangalore University vice-chancellor, N. Prabhudeva and others participated at the conference.

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.