The World Toilet Day is observed on November 19 to raise awareness and inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. The theme of the Day for 2016 is ‘toilets and jobs’, focusing on how sanitation, or the lack of it, can impact people’s livelihoods.
Bhubaneswar’s growth is faster than the whole State’s urban growth rate. Along with Bhubaneswar’s urban growth, there is a simultaneous growth and expansion of the slum population and its slum areas. As per the Bhubaneswar slum profile of 2008, there are 377 slums, including 99 authorised slums and 278 unauthorised slums with a population of 3, 08,614. Eighty per cent of slum dwellers in Bhubaneswar practice open defecation. This is due to inadequate public provisions for sanitation. Given that a large chunk of the population is poor, the people cannot afford to construct private toilets. Besides factors like high population density, lack of space and tenure restrict provision of sanitation facilities in slums. While, 18 per cent households have individual latrines, only two per cent households have access to community toilets.
There are 91 community toilets available in 31 slums. Water supply to toilets, both household and public, remains a major problem. This further restricts access to clean sanitation facilities and may discourage toilet use. Out of the total 91 community toilets, water supply is available in only 10. Regular operation and maintenance is critical for sustained safe sanitation. Waste disposal for these toilets remains a concern. Only 20 per cent of slums are within 50 metres of an existing sewerage network, while 71 per cent are beyond 100 meters. Therefore connecting the toilets to sewerage network is very difficult.
To celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2, 2014, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Swachh Bharath Mission (SBM) or Clean India Mission, whose central objective is to eliminate open defecation in India through construction of toilets and triggering of behavioural change by 2019.
In India, Jharkhand tops the list of the States with as high as 77 per cent of homes having no toilet while the figures are 76.6 per cent for Odisha and 75.8 per cent in Bihar. A detailed exercise is also being conducted to identify the shortcomings of the existing sanitation and drinking water efforts and incorporate them into the 12th Five-Year Plan.
According to the “Status of Elementary and Secondary Education in Odisha-2012”, a report recently prepared by the Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA), of the total 53,193 elementary schools (up to Class-VIII), 12,588 have no toilets. However, to improve the sanitary conditions in schools, the Gas Authority of India limited (GAIl) had contracted 1,021 bio-toilets across the country including 375 in Odisha under the Swachchh Bharat Swachchh Vidyalaya scheme.
Maintaining toilets in a hygienic condition has emerged as a major problem in schools across Odisha. The non-availability of piped water supply in schools is a great cause of concern to maintain cleanness of the toilet. Almost none of the rural schools are supplied with running water. Water for flushing toilets still has to be carried by hand. So, on an average, every time a toilet is used, water has to be lugged in buckets and mugs from hand pumps located at a distances of 50 to 100 metres away.
Access to water supply and drainage facilities is also another problem. Under these circumstances, it is not possible to maintain water-flush toilets in those areas. In many areas, toilets have been constructed and not being used due to lack of water supply. India has been constructing 1.5 million toilets a year under its Total Sanitation Campaign. However, 50 per cent of them remain unused. Besides, manual scavenging is still widespread in India.
Even as Bhubaneswar was ranked the 1st city for the Smart Cities project recently, the city had also obtained less mark in the service category, such as provision of public and community toilets. The city scored to 24th rank in cleanliness among the 73 cities rated under Swachh Sarvekshan (cleanliness survey) conducted by the Center. At present, the city has 22 public toilets. There are proposals to construct toilets at crowded places and slum pockets, which lack toilets facilities.
The city has failed to maintain proper sanitation systems and provide enough public toilets for its ever-growing population. During morning work, public gatherings, social events and festivals, people can be seen urinating in road sides which are very disgraceful. There are very few public toilets in the city centre covering Powerhouse, Assembly, Secretariat and Suchana Bhawan and AG Office. Every day thousands of people gather at these places and without sufficient public toilets they face numerous difficulties.
Adoption of better public toilet policy would have major implications for a better design of urban form, creation of sustainable and healthy cities, and have an impact upon the layout, urban design, appearance and functionality of the cities. Therefore, future toilet policy may ensure that the views of users as well as providers are taken into account. Besides, there is a need for cultural change to use toilets positively. Toilets should be designed to complement the surrounding architecture, and comprise well-designed, visually enriching, interesting and valuable components within the diverse surroundings of our neighbourhood. Any tourist information, including maps, should have accurate and up-to- date information about public toilet locations, opening times and facilities.
In order to transform policy, it is first necessary to change the mind-set of policy makers to prioritise toilet policy. In parallel, change is needed within society to encourage people to take toilet issues seriously.
(Dr Praharaj teaches in the Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)