Access to proper sanitation facilities is a problem that persists for the urban marginalized communities here in the Nilgiris too. Many of these communities depend on age-old insanitary setups that have been neglected for a long time. In some settlements, community toilets are maintained but access to piped water is scarce.
To minimize this general problem, in consultation with our TNUSSP team working in the Coimbatore region on safe sanitation practices, eight fabricated toilet units were bought and transported to the hills last month.
Our team working in the Nilgiris had identified two settlements in the urban parts of Kotagiri – Dhobikannna and Krishnapudur. Four out of eight units were given to four households in the Dhobikanna settlement based on their social (single mother with adolescent kids) and physical frailty (physically disabled).
The reaming four units were given to Krishnapudur – these will be used as common toilets, two for men and two for women. The community has agreed to give monetary contributions for septic pits and labour support to set it up.
