The need for latrines in Jansirani

Mrs Valli (right), leader of the new Jansirani Self Help Group.

Credit: WaterAid / Libby Clarke

The community of Bells Ground Colony Slum in Trichy live on wasteland by the railway. There are no toilet facilities here so the community has to practice open defecation, using an area covered by thorny bushes that runs alongside the railway track.

There are many wild pigs which roam about the area eating human waste - they follow people into the bushes and eat their feces.

While people go to the toilet they are also often disturbed by snakes, which can be very frightening. Three to four children die each year in this slum from diarrheal diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and malaria.

Mrs. Valli is the leader of the new Jansirani Self Help Group which will work to build household latrines for the Bells Ground Colony Slum in Trichy.

"There are a lot of snakes in the thorny bushes. You have to make sure they don't bite you. It also gets muddy in the bushes which makes it difficult to find somewhere to go to the toilet in the rainy season.

"We have to wade through waist-high water and there are holes in the ground. One old woman recently fell in. Fortunately people go to the bushes in groups and we managed to pull her out.

"Women use one area of the bushes and men use another, but sometimes men stray into our area, which worries us. We are looking forward to having our own latrines. There is just enough room outside each house for a latrine pit. We want to change our lifestyle. We just need help."