Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam   

Permanent houses in tsunami-hit areas require hygienic toilets

Staff Reporter

Condition of pit latrines in the high water table coastal areas worse than in temporary ones

WATER SHORTAGE: Abandoned toilets and clothe washing platforms (stones) in a temporary shelter in Nagapattinam for want of water.

NAGAPATTINAM: While construction of permanent houses for tsunami-hit fishermen in the district is gathering momentum, the main question remains to be answered is whether the new houses, where they have to live for generations, will have hygienic toilet.

In February last year, when nearly 500 NGOs had converged in Nagapattinam for tsunami relief and rehabilitation work, one of the biggest challenges they faced was to provide toilet facilities for more than 50,000 people living in about 60 temporary shelters in various parts of the district. The pit latrine toilet was the only model known to the authorities, the UNICEF and the specialists.

The pit latrines had certain limitations but a massive programme was launched to construct the same in all the shelters as a crisis management measure as the thousands of fishermen used only to open defecation in the wide sandy beaches.

The UNICEF, district administration, Exnora International, Total Sanitation Campaign officials and NGOs went all out to educate the fishermen to teach the habit of defecation in the pit latrines, which was indeed an uphill task. While the women and children for want of any other alternative, slowly, but surely, accepted the toilets, the majority of men preferred open defecation. Specially appointed staff of UNICEF and other NGOs convinced a large section of women to use the toilets.

However, lack of facilities like water and power supply to the toilets in the temporary shelters, ignorance of toilet practices and rains at regular intervals made the toilets a source of potential hazard. In fact, J. Radhakrishnan, Collector, ordered demolition of some pit latrine complexes as it was felt that open defecation was far better than the shocking conditions of pit latrines.

Several internationally recognised organisations that studied the sphere, standards for availability of water and sanitation facilities in the temporary shelters, found that underground water in hundreds of pits in many shelters had been polluted dangerously due to open defecation and the terrain and pit latrines in the shelters.

The funding agencies and NGOs in close consultation with the authorities launched a crash programme to improve the sanitation and water supply facilities in a number of shelters at a cost of Rs.two crore. However, the infrastructure facilities were improved without achieving the expected levels. Still, there are dozens of temporary shelters in the town itself where the facilities provided are not fully used and water is not available for toilets or for washing clothes.

In some of the permanent shelters under construction in tsunami-hit areas in the district, there is no proper toilet model. The plan approved by the authorities are far from the liking of the would be owners. For example, all permanent houses now under construction in Kameswaram village near Nagapattinam, have just one door and the toilet is in the main hall of the house facing the kitchen. In many other places the pit latrine models are already filled with water and is still surrounded with water.

The condition of the pit latrines in the high water table coastal areas will be much worse than the situation in the temporary shelters.

As most of the permanent houses still under various stages of construction, the silver line, perhaps the last chance is that the authorities with the help of experts in the field and UNICEF should ensure that all the permanent houses are provided with good healthy and hygienic toilets.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Permanent houses in tsunami-hit areas require hygienic toilets

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu