BENGALURU: Candidates seeking votes at
Polluramma slum in Doddigunta, which falls in the
CV Raman Nagar assembly constituency in Bengaluru, are facing the wrath of people there. For six years, around 4,000 residents of the slum have been forced to use four dilapidated toilets, turning this into a major poll issue for the slum dwellers.
The lack of toilets has been a pressing problem for 358 households in Polluramma (BBMP Ward 79) since 2012 after lack of maintenance reduced the existing facility with 12 lavatories to a shambles. Dwellers claim toilet renovation was their primary demand in the 2015 BBMP elections too. “The problem was not addressed. This time, we’ll vote for the person who will assure us he’ll fix the toilet,” adds N Anand, a resident.
“The commodes broke, the doors went missing, drainage flooded into the toilet and they became unusable. The grill gate is rusted and jammed and the toilet is inaccessible,” lamented Lilly, another resident. Women have a particularly tough time. The ladies section on the right side has an old, red coloured piece of cloth which serves as a door.
“The toilet is open in the morning for a few hours and again in the evening. There is amad rush to use the lavatory which often ends in fights,” says a resident, Shantamma. Both the local
MLA and corporator are from
BJP, but residents claim the duo has not bothered to solve this problem.
“They haven’t come this time to ask for votes but sent their cronies. People here are very angry,” said A Emmanual, another slum resident. Interestingly, no major party candidate has come calling for campaigning. Only smaller party representatives have been seen in the area.
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