Women of east Kalyanpuri Delhi
have to go out to relieve themselves. A urban slum with a population of 4,ooo
residents having two toilets only.
There was a toilet in her area
run by the civic body, now destroyed in an accident. Since then women have been
going behind Shastri Park to relieve themselves. They face severe humiliation
especially at night, they complained. “When people drive by the area when we
are relieving ourselves, they deliberately focus the head lights at us. This
happens on a daily basis,” says a resident of the area. A woman resident
of Burari, another slum area, says: “We have two open toilets for 5,000 people.
This area is infamous for drunkards. They know that women come to relieve
themselves at night. So, they reach there before us, gather around and
misbehave,”
This
is the story of almost all slum clusters. And their situation, according to
experts, lead to various health as well as social problems. The figures vary
from two toilets catering to a population of 5,000 to even areas housing 28,000
people at places like Burari, Nandnagri, Kalyanpuri, Seemapuri, Dilshad Garden
and Shahdara of North-East Delhi.
The severity of the problem
can be gauged from the fact that from 60,000 villages, only 25,000 have access
to proper toilets.
“It is not that open
defecation causes problem only to women. It affects people of all genders
equally. Abdominal diseases like chronic cholera, typhoid and jaundice are
rampant in communities where open defecation is a norm. It also affects the
crop and water sources, causing further health issues. This also has a bearing
on their productivity leading to financial repercussions in the long run,” says
Kiran Guleria, Professor (Gynaecology) at Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital.
Ashok
Santsansgi, a general physician from Sukhdev Vihar, adds: “The physically weak
suffer more from reproductive problems because of exposed genitals in
open-defecation areas regularly. Urinal disease is very common among them.”
“To Make Open Defecation Free
Nation Join Hands With HEEALS “
Please Visit Us At : http://heeals.org/ContactUs
Editied By : Sanitation Kumar
Website: www.heeals.org
Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/an-open-scourge/article5666698.ece
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