The Times of India 19.11.2010
Slums get loos, but families need one of their own
PUNE: Nearly 80 per cent of Pune's poor have access to at least one community toilet. This is a significant improvement of approximately 20 per cent over the last decade.
However, community toilets are a stop-gap arrangement and a permanent solution to effective urban sanitation is individual toilets for families, said Pratima Joshi, executive director of Shelter Associates on Thursday.
The city-based NGO comprising architects, social workers, GIS experts and community workers has been working with the urban poor to facilitate and provide technical support to community-managed housing (slum rehabilitation) and infrastructure projects.
"Shelter Associates carried out a survey of 211 slums in 2000-01 which constituted about 70 per cent of Pune's poor. The toilet/person ratio was grim, it ranged from 1:50 to 1:1000 across several slums," she said.
The NGO revisited around 100 slums in 2008 as part of its urban poverty redistribution strategies for the National Institute of Urban Affairs. "Over 400 toilet blocks have been built since 2001 due to efforts taken by then municipal commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad," said Joshi.
The scheme invited bids from NGOs for toilet construction to boost community participation in construction, design and maintenance. The PMC spent over Rs 20 crores on the project, and ensured sanitation for over half a million people.
"However, another survey of toilet blocks in the city is needed. We should re-prioritise areas with poor sanitation facilities. Slums should be categorised into those with no toilet facilities and/or those areas where facilities are so dilapidated that they need replacement and the others where the toilet to person ratio is less than 1:50. Here, additional toilet blocks should be constructed. Of the 100 slums surveyed, there are as many as 34 slums with such a ratio," Joshi said.
The slum improvement programme should establish a regular community toilet maintenance programme. where funds should be allocated for the upkeep of community toilets. It should look into leaking pipes, broken tiles or commode, broken window panes, lights and non-functional flushes. This would reduce recurring dilapidation and provide a more sustainable, long-term solution. The monetary allocation can be based on a number of community toilet blocks, assuming an annual maintenance of Rs 10,000 per block, Joshi said.
"However, individual toilets are a must. An effective way is to float a cost-sharing model wherein the PMC, along with NGOs can share the cost of building toilets with families. The PMC's ambitious project to reimburse individual families who built their own toilets up to Rs 15,000 met with little success. The paperwork was too cumbersome, the awareness too little, and the cost too high," she said.
"Our recent experience with providing toilets to 90 families in Shivrainagar in the Bibvewadi ward has proved the efficacy of the cost-sharing model. The families contributed to building their toilets and for the drainage lines. Our NGO contributed some portion of the funds," Joshi added.
However, community toilets are a stop-gap arrangement and a permanent solution to effective urban sanitation is individual toilets for families, said Pratima Joshi, executive director of Shelter Associates on Thursday.
The city-based NGO comprising architects, social workers, GIS experts and community workers has been working with the urban poor to facilitate and provide technical support to community-managed housing (slum rehabilitation) and infrastructure projects.
"Shelter Associates carried out a survey of 211 slums in 2000-01 which constituted about 70 per cent of Pune's poor. The toilet/person ratio was grim, it ranged from 1:50 to 1:1000 across several slums," she said.
The NGO revisited around 100 slums in 2008 as part of its urban poverty redistribution strategies for the National Institute of Urban Affairs. "Over 400 toilet blocks have been built since 2001 due to efforts taken by then municipal commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad," said Joshi.
The scheme invited bids from NGOs for toilet construction to boost community participation in construction, design and maintenance. The PMC spent over Rs 20 crores on the project, and ensured sanitation for over half a million people.
"However, another survey of toilet blocks in the city is needed. We should re-prioritise areas with poor sanitation facilities. Slums should be categorised into those with no toilet facilities and/or those areas where facilities are so dilapidated that they need replacement and the others where the toilet to person ratio is less than 1:50. Here, additional toilet blocks should be constructed. Of the 100 slums surveyed, there are as many as 34 slums with such a ratio," Joshi said.
The slum improvement programme should establish a regular community toilet maintenance programme. where funds should be allocated for the upkeep of community toilets. It should look into leaking pipes, broken tiles or commode, broken window panes, lights and non-functional flushes. This would reduce recurring dilapidation and provide a more sustainable, long-term solution. The monetary allocation can be based on a number of community toilet blocks, assuming an annual maintenance of Rs 10,000 per block, Joshi said.
"However, individual toilets are a must. An effective way is to float a cost-sharing model wherein the PMC, along with NGOs can share the cost of building toilets with families. The PMC's ambitious project to reimburse individual families who built their own toilets up to Rs 15,000 met with little success. The paperwork was too cumbersome, the awareness too little, and the cost too high," she said.
"Our recent experience with providing toilets to 90 families in Shivrainagar in the Bibvewadi ward has proved the efficacy of the cost-sharing model. The families contributed to building their toilets and for the drainage lines. Our NGO contributed some portion of the funds," Joshi added.
