How many toilets does a community need? For the 3,000-odd residents of Jeedimara slum, Bannerghatta Road, it looks like they will have to make do with eight. The State government has installed eight toilets — four for men and four for women — in a sprawling area with no sewage system. Some of the residents, who are mostly migrants, have dug chamber pots near their house to improve the situation.
“Every morning you have hundreds of people standing in a long queue to use the toilets,” said 60-year-old Nagalakshmi. While the toilets are maintained well by the authorities, who charge a fee of Rs. 5 per use, there aren’t enough of them, she said.
“There is no sewage collection system and the houses have chamber pots dug close by. Once the pots fill up, which happens in about six months, someone is called in to clean them,” said Noori, a woman in her twenties.
In another house, a toilet has been built in a corner of a 6x6ft room. The family brings in water from the borewell to use in the toilet, which often gets blocked.
Anganwadis not better off
The two anganwadis in the area also lack toilets. There are more than 300 children living in Jeedimara slum, and there are two dimly-lit rooms functioning as anganwadis to cater to them. Twenty to 30 children sit cooped in the dark in each anganwadi. Many parents hesitate to send their children to the anganwadi as they will have to go out on their own to relieve themselves.
Noori, who doesn’t send her daughter to the anganwadi, said, “The anganwadi is on a busy road, and I’m afraid my daughter will run outside onto the road.”
