Ten years of Swachh Bharat Mission, and the people in India still feel that there has been no improvement in the state of public toilets and that they would rather visit a commercial establishment to use toilets instead of a public facility.
India's Swachh Bharat mission, started in 2014, aimed to end open defecation. Despite claims of success, the reality is different. While the government boasts of building many public toilets, people still struggle to find one, even in cities prominent locations.
The government claims over 11 crore Toilets & 2.23 lakh Community Sanitary Complexes built across All States/UTs Under Swachh Bharat Mission. While public toilets have proliferated across cities and rural areas, their cleanliness and hygiene standards raise concerns about truly achieving 'Swachh' status.
India's journey towards sanitation and hygiene began with the Sulabh Shauchalaya movement in 1970, but it couldn't achieve its goals entirely. While the movement was admirable and paved the way for a clean and open defecation free India, a large number of sanitation facilities built under the mission were not maintained properly and degraded fast due to the use of outdated fittings and materials.
By February 2019, India made significant strides in rural sanitation. The government claimed bout 93% of rural households gained access to toilets, with an impressive 96% of those households using them, indicating a remarkable shift in behaviour. The numbers are encouraging, but experts emphasize the importance of sustained efforts to maintain these gains and ensure long-term behavioral change.
Initiatives like Bangalore's Nirmala Toilet Complexes, initially offered a sanitation solution. Today, they are plagued by neglect and disrepair, making them unappealing to the public. In Similar such initiates the municipal across all the top cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi built public toilets in large numbers. However, most of these toilets are now in bad shape, with poor maintenance and lack of hygiene.
Going beyond this, not just toilets were built, measures like imposing fine and even drone surveillance were imposed in some parts of the country to ensure people use the public toilets which are built by the government. To combat open defecation, Haryana adopted innovative drone monitoring, whereas Madhya Pradesh enacted legislation making flush toilets a prerequisite for Panchayat election contestants.
Experts’ highlights, although the government has provided toilets but many areas in India are affected by water scarcity. There is the issue of disposal. The toilets built by the government has a system for containment, not disposal.
India's sanitation story is one of contrasts – progress and pitfalls, quantity and quality. As the nation moves forward, it's essential to reconcile these contradictions, prioritizing sustainability, hygiene, and community involvement. The Swachh Bharat Mission's success hinges on transforming public toilets from mere infrastructure to symbols of dignity, health, and civic pride.
