,%20are%20rarely%20cleaned.)
The public toilets of Swatantra Palya slum, which are maintained by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), are rarely cleaned.
One of the densely populated slums in Bangalore, Swatantra Palya does not have clean and hygienic public toilets for its residents causing them to defecate in open. They say that they depend on public bathrooms as they do not have enough space in their houses to build toilets.
Rekha, a resident of Swatantra Palya said, “The public bathroom is not good, there are no doors. There are only ten toilets for women and sometimes even boys enter the bathrooms and throw stones for fun. It is very dirty.”
The BBMP, in April, had allotted Rs. 35 lakh for the reconstruction of public toilets. Recently another report has given an updated list of the reconstruction work in Swatantra Palya as well as in Papanna block.
Mr. Dharmaraj Naik, Assistant Engineer in BBMP West Zone said that “Tender has to be called. No regular Executive Engineer is there as of now in Gandhinagar. When the Executive Engineer comes, he will call for the tender then after that, the work will start.”
Sanitation plays an important role in the health of every individual. This delay, could affect the lives of women and children in the long run, says Dr. L. Lalitha Lakshmi, a consulting physician. She said, “They will have urinary infections, cystitis will be there, fevers and certain other kinds of infection will also be there. It especially affects the ladies.”
The Karnataka Slum Development Board had started an initiative to build homes in Swatantra Palya which will have toilets in them. The board has decided to finish the project by 2021
