Toilet seats: BMC eats its own words
Promised To Build 20,000 A Year, Only Built 120 ………Clara Lewis I TNN
Mumbai: When American talk show host Jay Leno quipped that Indians can send a rocket into space but cannot build a decent toilet, he probably had the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in mind.
The BMC’s tall claims of constructing 20,000 toilet seats in one year stands exposed after it was revealed that it managed only 120 new seats in the past 24 months. More shocking was the fact that these toilets were all constructed in just one area—Bhandup.
Sources said it was not due to lack of funds, but political interference that was responsible for this state of affairs. This year, the BMC budgeted Rs 38 crore for construction of new toilets and Rs 20 crore for retrofitting existing toilets. The project is being taken up under the Slum Sanitation Programme (SSP).
“The basic requirement is the formation of communitybased organisations (CBOs) that will maintain the toilets once they are constructed. It is very difficult to form CBOs, largely because of political interference,’’ said civic officials who are part of the SSP.
The toilet, said a social activist on condition of anonymity, is a powerful political tool. “In a slum, the toilet helps in forming organised groups. So, controlling a toilet becomes important. One of the hurdles we face while forming CBOs is the insistence on appointing particular members to the committee or not allowing the use of a toilet by a particular individual or family,’’ said sources.
Often, corporators insist that the CBO be entrusted to an organisation that they head. It is for this reason that the SSP has failed to take off. “In 2006, when the BMC launched phase II of the project, we had envisaged the construction of 4,700 toilet blocks when there was an actual demand of 3,070 toilet blocks. It has been an uphill task,’’ said civic officials.
Shiv Sena corporator Sunil Prabhu said it is the job of NGOs to form the CBOs. “But they should take the local councillor into confidence, only then will it be possible. It is the councillor who is in regular touch with the residents and it would be easier if the task is given to a local sanstha,’’ he said.
Prabhu said the councillor’s fund should be allowed to be used for constructing toilets as there is an urgent need for it.
Besides the political hurdle, the BMC-NGO interface is also missing as there are only three full-time civic officials to monitor the project’s progress.
The SSP was launched by the BMC, along with the World Bank, in 1997. However, it took off only in 2000. By 2003, the BMC had successfully constructed 330 toilet blocks and decided to continue with the programme.
By the BMC’s own admission, there are 75,000 constructed toilet blocks in the city’s slums. However, 80% are defunct. Besides concentrating on building new toilets, the BMC has announced that it will retrofit the existing ones. The civic body maintained that notwithstanding the slum rehabilitation schemes, there is an urgent need to construct at least 35,000 toilet blocks.
Anil Diggikar, additional municipal commissioner, incharge of the civic slum sanitation programme, said it is a big challenge. One of the major tasks is identifying the defunct toilets; a task that is yet to begin. Diggikar said they have appointed around 30 panels of architects, engineers and NGOs who will identify these toilets and work on their retrofitting.
“Most have become dysfunctional because the septic tank has not been cleaned from the time the toilet was commissioned. Cleaning a septic tank takes three-four months. Often, the residents around it become hostile because of the stink and work has to be stopped. There are other issues like lack of water supply, no electricity and poor structure,’’ said civic officials.
But the most challenging task is the formation of CBOs. Diggikar said no toilet will be retrofitted unless there was a CBO. “There should be no problem in giving it to the mandal or sanstha suggested by the local councillor,’’ he said.
FACTS & FIGURES
FACTS & FIGURES
Total city population: 12 million Total slum population: 60% (6.6 million) Requirement of toilet seats: 64,000 Toilet seats to be built under SSP: 35,000 Total toilet seats at present: 75,000