Illegal toilets raise a stink in Paradip port town

PARADIP: With Paradip Municipality failing to provide community toilets, residents in slums have resorted to set up illegal latrines over water bodies in the port town. Construction of illegal bamboo-made toilets on creek, pond and other water bodies at different slums has given rise to water pollution.

The port town has 25 slums with around 70,000 households.

While most of the slum dwellers do not have access to toilet, only 3,396 households have such facilities. As no sanitation measures were taken in the slums, residents have allegedly set up bamboo-made toilets over water, with the waste falling untreated below. They get up as early as at 4 am in order to stand in a queue before the toilets.

As most of the residents in the slums are daily wage labourers, the day begins much earlier than 4 am. 

They alleged that though Swachh Bharat campaign was launched in 2014, yet till now slums do not have toilets. Sometimes they have to use drain water to clean. Residents in slums are increasingly falling prey to various diseases like dengue. Despite their appeals to elected representatives, no one had helped them so far, they rued.

Locals said neither Paradip Port Trust (PPT) authorities nor the civic body has taken any step to check illegal erection of hanging latrines on water bodies at Atharbanki, Lockpada, Balijhara, Brinadaban Colony and other slums. Unauthorised settlements along the water bodies have given rise to this unsafe and illegal sanitation practice. Steps should be taken to check water pollution and take sanitation measures for slum dwellers, they demanded.

A senior officer of Paradip Municipality said a surveillance squad has been formed to keep an eye on open defecators. The slum colonies in Paradip have 8,754 registered households.

Of them, only 3,396 houses have access to toilets. Steps are being taken to make the slums free from open defecation, he added.

Regional Officer of Odisha State Pollution Control Board Mukesh Mahaling said the pollution panel had served a notice to Paradip Municipality over the issue asking the civic body to check illegal construction of toilets on water bodies and create awareness among the slum dwellers, he added.