Efforts to improve sanitation in the slums

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Later in the morning we visit another slum where WaterAid have been able to intervene and build a community sanitation block. Obviously in these settings there simply isn't the space to build household latrines, so different solutions are required. The sanitation block, with ladies' and gents' latrines, and showers, and a child-friendly latrine area too, is run by local people, and there is a small charge of 50 paise (half a rupee - less than 1p) for using the toilets, which pays for their cleaning and maintenance. Such a system also ensures that communities take ownership of the facilities and it provides a source of income for some. It's early days here and old habits die hard, but progress is being made, with open defecation now cut by around 50% here.

At the third slum of the day, building work for a new sanitation block has just been completed, and we attend a ceremony to officially open the facility and hand it over to the community. I am priviledged to be asked to cut the ribbon and declare it open. It makes me very proud to do this, and I really hope it will help to improve lives here, and perhaps even save lives.

Unfortunately though, the problems of the slums are many and vast, and it will take much more work to get all these people out of the poverty trap. In the afternoon we are taken to meet the District Collector - the government representative for this area. He is clearly a practiced politician. He claims that funding is not a problem, that there is plenty of money but a lack of resource capability and lack of public demand is preventing progress on sanitation issues. He also claims that water is not a problem, and when we challenge that assumption our objections are brushed aside, saying that it is impossible for government to always maintain and repair handpumps, together with other priorities. He doesn't seem that concerned. His view seems to be that WaterAid need to expand and build capacity to solve these issues, when really it should be his responsibility. He also freely admits that the government need to reclaim some of the land occupied by slums for the expansion of industry, and that people must relocate (without compensation, as they had no legal right to be there in the first place) and with no regard for proximity to employment. I get the feeling that this guy doesn't care about sanitation at all, but is just trying to tell us what he thinks we want to hear. If we were talking about mere hardware, then water coverage may well be around 80 to 90% in this area. Unfortunately though, handpumps all too often break down or dry up, taking a long time (if ever) to be repaired. So the real figure for access to safe water may be only half that.

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