THE TOILET THAT NEVER GOT BUILT, AUGUST 2012

A PIL was admitted into the Bombay High Court indicating that the open defecation in Bandra by the sea be resolved by demanding that the Municipal Corporation construct a public toilet to stop this defecation. Since the alliance has been constructing toilets for the municipality, the corporation commissioned the Alliance to construct the toilet, the location was specified as were the number of seats etc.

Once the plans were developed, the contractors were about to be assigned a signed MOU and given an advance when the Municipality ordered this work to be stopped since there was an appeal from citizens not to construct the toilet. As of today, this project stands cancelled.

Our experience over the decade with working on sanitation has shown us that toilets for the poor are contested in many ways; if the toilets are built outside the slums, the other sections of society object to it and if they are built inside the slum settlements, then they are highly contested in the following ways:

1. If the income from use of the toilets is sufficient, then individuals seek to “own the toilet” rather than allowing the community to manage it as a group.

2. The local political groups start contesting for either owning it or using whatever public spaces are available for their use.

The issue of managing the toilet, maintaining it and retaining its public character are lost in the battle.