The Hindu 24.08.2016
Namma Toilet puts students’ health at risk in Pazhayapettai
Unhygienic:Open drain of Namma Toilet carrying human excreta abutting
the wall of the noon-meal kitchen of Municipality Government Middle
School in Pazhayapettai, Krishnagiri.- Photo: N. Bashkaran
Clumps of human excreta float along the open drain
abutting the Municipality run Government Girls Middle School in
Pazhayapettai. Above the drain afloat with excreta, overlooks the vent
of the noon meal kitchen of the school.
The Namma
Toilet of Krishnagiri Municipality is letting out human excreta into the
public drain as it is not connected to a septic tank.
For
the students of the Municipality Government Girls Middle School in
Pazhayapettai, it is a daily ordeal to keep their sights away from the
drain that they have to cross for entry into the school. The noon-meal
kitchen, which abuts the drain, throws serious concerns of health safety
protocols.
Here, the Municipality has not
provisioned for septic tanks for Namma Toilets, says Gora, a local
auto-driver, who parks his vehicle in the vicinity of the toilet. “The
teachers and the staff of the school are tight-lipped because it is a
municipality school, and they cannot speak up.”
The
plight of Namma Toilet of Krishnagiri has breached the boundaries of
mere concerns over sanitation and seems to have crossed over to real
concerns of human rights violation.
The Prohibition
of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013,
forbids both engagement of manual scavengers and discharge of excreta
into public drains.
According to the Act, the local
body shall demolish such toilets of individuals. The Act also provides
for a fine of Rs.50,000 and one year imprisonment of the first time
offender; and Rs.1 lakh fine and two year imprisonment for second time
offence. The Act assumes that the violators will be individuals.
However, here the local body is the violator.
Invariably,
the drain will pollute other storm water drains too, says another
person not wanting to be named. It might result in manual scavengers
cleaning up these drains at some point.
On the other hand, Namma Toilet on Salem road near the roundabout has remained locked for over months.
“This
toilet has remained shut for more than a year,” says a local
shop-keeper. While the local body is going around slapping fine for
water stagnation in household compounds as part of its anti-dengue
drive, the Namma Toilet in Pazhayapettai, barely a couple of 100- meters
from the Municipality is posing a health risks.
Speaking to
The Hindu
, Municipal Commissioner Kannan, said there was a design flaw in Namma
Toilets. They were conceived as urinals, and there was no design for
defecation.
UGD line
“It
was anticipated only as a urinal and it became a failure. However, there
is a new proposal to link all government buildings, schools, Municipal
buildings, including toilets to the UGD line. Once that is implemented,
there is no need for septic tank,” he said.