Left out in open, construction workers expose city’s ODF tag

BHOPAL: Lata wakes up daily early in the morning before dawn breaks out so that she can get through go out and defecate. She uses the field just few steps away instead of the public convenience located a kilometer away.

A construction worker in a residential complex in Bagmugalia, Lata lives in a makeshift hut in the premises. “Walking one kilometer just so that you can use a toilet, is a lot. It is more convenient this way,” she says.

Lata is not the only one, over 20 construction workers staying in the complex use the fields as their toilet due to exploitation and ignorance by their employers- contractors and builders.

She says men mostly go and visit the public convenience once or twice a day. “They can go. Who will take responsibility if something happens to us. We are not from Bhopal,” she explains.

The city will complete a year with the Open Defecation Free (ODF) tag in January 2018. With another Swach Sarvekshan around the corner, this could end up costing Bhopal some crucial marks and its second ranking.

The 2014 guidelines of the

Swacchh Bharat Mission

mandates that construction labour in urban areas should have access to temporary toilets at all sites in urban areas, buildings, parks and roads where construction/maintenance is taking place or is temporarily housed. Hoshangabad road is dotted with construction sites, but few have cared to construct toilets for the workers. The workers also complained that many of the portable toilets are locked or have no water, leaving them with no option but to go out defecate in the open. A similar situation prevails in Bawadia Kalan, Kolar Road, Rohit Nagar and Saket Nagar.

Additional commissioner of BMC, M P Singh said, that the civic body has installed many public toilets for the construction workers, but it is the responsibility of contractors to provide the water and toilets to their workers. “We undertake conduction spot checks time and again and fine those who are found erring.” Few months ago, former BMC commissioner Chhavi Bharadwaj had fined a construction company Rs 10,000 for not providing toilets to their workers.

However, there is a still a long way to go. A contractor at a residential complex in Bawadia Kalan, without quoting his name said, “I have been working on this project for over a year now, and there have been no checks. I am not aware about the guidelines of constructing toilets, and no one has told us even. Here, the workers manage on their own. As long as they are not bothering anyone, nobody cares.”

Rahul Ahirwar who lives near the construction site said, “This is nothing new. I was so shocked to read in the papers that Bhopal is an ODF city. I wrote a letter to the municipal corporation also about the same, but there was no reply. It seems as if the jurisdiction of the civic body is limited to posh areas like

Area Colony

and Char Imli. There is no monitoring in other localities. Even when construction was underway near the railway crossing you could see people in a line defecating in the open.”

Another contractor at Baghmugalia said, “Since there is no inspection, we do nothing. Construction of toilets is an added expense. Plus, who do we ask for help? We get the contract and get our work done. There workers come under the unorganized sector. Even the realtors do not bother as they are only concerned about the work.”

As contractors and civic officials seem to differ over things on the ground, labourers talk of the need for a change.

Kusum Bai

, another construction worker said, “We do not like going out in the open. It is very difficult for us specially in rainy and winter season. But, it is the only option. We even have to take our little kids to the bushes. There are insects crawling there, and always a fear that someone will come and see us.”

Experts believe that ODF is one of the biggest challenge that Bhopal faces. “We are a capital city. Tags like ODF or rank 2 do not matter, if people are still defecating in the open. The construction labours are working for the development of the city and it is important that they are provided facilities for toilets,” said Jeetendra Parmar, a sanitation expert.

“There is a need for awareness among the contractors that it is there responsibility to provide toilet facility to their workers. They can ask civic bodies for mobile toilets, if they cannot construct it. Municipal corporation too should enforce stricter measures, specially in areas where such incidents are a common sight.”

“It is not the fault of the construction workers that they are defecating in the open. They do not have any other option. They should also be made aware of the health risks involved in doing so.”

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