Transparent Chennai’s toilets layer got some publicity after the official launch of the site on Monday. The most detailed article, which ran in the Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Only-600-public-toilets-in-city/articleshow/6686444.cms), captured the nuances of our findings well, but was slightly off on one of our numbers. I want to take this opportunity to talk about our toilets layer in more detail here.
Our team became very interested in access to sanitation for the poor last year, and we began to ask questions about the number of public toilets in the city. When we approached the Chennai Corporation for information about the total number of public toilets and their locations, they told us to go to the zonal offices because they did not have the information. So, one of our team members visited each of the city’s ten zonal offices, and asked whether they could provide her a list of the toilets in their zone. Zonal staff were, for the most, bemused by our interest, and provided the information voluntarily. But before we put the data up on the site, we decided to file an RtI application for the same information, just to confirm our numbers. We were really surprised to find that the numbers were all completely different. Here’s a table with the numbers that we first received from the Zonal offices and what the RtI data turned up.
| Zone | Initial Data | RtI Data |
| 1 | 31 | 49 |
| 2 | 72 | 51 |
| 3 | 82 | 133 |
| 4 | 20 | 49 |
| 5 | 60 | 69 |
| 6 | 41 | 61 |
| 7 | 35 | 77 |
| 8 | 72 | 74 |
| 9 | 60 | 58 |
| 10 | 99 | 94 |
| Total | 572 | 715 |
The numbers are not radically different, but these discrepancies still bring up important questions about the management of toilets in the city. If the Chennai Corporation does not have a central register of toilets, how do they know where more toilets are needed? How is “access” to sanitation across the city even calculated when the city government does not have a central register of the number and location of public toilets? How much money is allocated for improving access to sanitation in the city, and how are strategies to improve sanitation decided upon?
We hope to be exploring these questions in more detail in our research over the next couple of months, and plan to hold a meeting on public toilets and access to sanitation, particularly for women in the city, in November. Check back for details of this meeting if you’re interested in this topic, or contact us to help us in mapping and surveying toilets in the city!
- Nithya V Raman
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Very important for our city! places like bus stands, government RTOs, hospitals, etc, have none or inadequate toilet facilities.
Good luck!
October 10, 2010 at 12:08 pmIt will be interesting to know how many of these toilets are actually being maintained by the corporation. Is there a possibility for the private players to step in. The accessibility of these toilets are also a question mark.
October 19, 2010 at 4:36 pmDear Roshan,
Thanks for expressing interest in our study. Most of these toilets belong to the Corporation and some to Sulabh International. However, during our visits to Zone 4 toilets in Chennai, we were surprised to see that Sulabh toilets are even more mismanaged than the Corporation toilets.
The only problem with private players will be the lack of incentives and profits in such a venture.
We will soon be uploading these datasets and you can see for yourself the distribution of Corporation Vs. Sulabh toilets in the city.
Thanks.
Somya.
October 20, 2010 at 12:38 pmAM VERY PROUD OF THIS.at the same time. we have more toilets in the state but the existing toilets are still now not get the good position. am living in the korukupet.there are more than ١ءتويليتس have been in my surrounding .in my point of as well as the public point of there are no imporovement أن ذات ص ص جوفيرنمينت موست وانت طه تك ث أكشن إن my places and also other places . thanking such a good site for شيرينج أبوت أور ستات.and city.thank you once again
October 22, 2010 at 9:42 pm