We surveyed one of the most popular streets to hang out in Pune - Fergusson College road with a variety of shops and restaurants making it a hot spot for people of all ages.

True - this is not a slums area, but we decided to try a new strategy in response to the 2 crore award announced for the cleanest ward in Pune. We will create a package of potential areas to place toilets in the entire Deccan area and present it to the corporator. This package which will include the slums, would likely stand out as more appealing to the corporator and garner better support from them as they would be able to clearly see the benefit and  we would be able to measure impact on the entire area.

The existing toilets are in very good physical condition, with all the facilities including taps, lights, doors and colourful, attractive exterior. However, there is no one to clean it and no water for use. As a result the toilets are filthy and unusable.

This can easily be converted into a pay per use toilet and additional toilets can also be placed on the wide footpath if necessary.

Water arrangements and caretaker are the main two issues that need to be dealt with.

We are also looking at providing toilets to the vendors at market places and shopkeepers on monthly pass basis and to passers-by on a higher pay-per-use basis, in another area with high footfall, near the Deccan gymkhana bus stop. These dustbin dumps will need to be moved to one side and made sure the area is kept clean.

This blog is one in a series that documents the journey of Saraplast in setting up an inclusive slum sanitation venture.  To read more blogs in this series, click here.