By G William
BORDA Partner – RLHP
Chamrajanagar District is one of the most underdeveloped districts in Karnataka with poor water and sanitation facilities. Ambedkar Colony (slum) is in Chamrajanagar Town, about 60 km from Mysore. 286 families inhabit this slum and are daily wagers earning meagre incomes, insufficient to support the family. Just seven families have household toilets. With lack of a community toilet, people are forced to use open space for defecation impacting adversely on their health.
With the intention of improving sanitation facilities and the health of the community, the members of Abhivrudhi Sanga approached RLHP and requested for provision of household toilets. A Meeting was held with community members and the matter was discussed at length. The members expressed the need for at least 20 household toilets. However, given the financial constraints, it was agreed to provide 10 household toilets.
The community members identified 10 families including those of widows and handicapped as beneficiaries. The beneficiaries agreed to contribute Rs.1000 each towards construction of toilets. Each toilet costs Rs.7000.
The community members formed a Sanitation Committee consisting of 6 each of men and women respectively. The Committee’s responsibilities were to monitor the quality of construction of toilet, to supervise the purchase of material and to ensure that the people use the toilet properly. Awareness programme was conducted for the beneficiaries on the proper utilization and maintenance of toilets, personal health and hygiene.
The Town Municipality was informed of the construction of toilets. As people own the land, there was no need for obtaining permission from the Municipality for the toilets. The one-pit toilets of 3ftx 4ft dimension, were constructed. The pits were laid with 4 concrete rings. The beneficiaries also supported by curing the constructed toilets.
The toilets have been successfully completed and the families are happy to use the toilets that help them to improve their personal health and hygiene. It also protects the environment from pollution and contamination.
