At least everyone should have freedom to toilet

There are some basic needs in our life which are very important to be fulfilled and toilet is one among them. One may have this facility in their house but that is not enough as there are large number of population who spent most of their work time in streets and roads for their livelihood. The restrooms or washrooms constructed by the government in public places are known as public toilets.

The facility of toilets is not free but these toilets are affordable for the commoners. The charge varies between Rs 2 to Rs 5. People of lower income group or the working class uses these toilets and many poor people who don’t have the sanitation facility also make use of these public toilets.

When we talk about these toilets in India, there are many toilets which are not maintained and are not hygienic at all. Joshua C D, a student from Bangalore feels that public toilets are not clean at all. “Whenever I travelled to other cities by Volvo buses, the bus stops in mid ways for refreshments and the toilets made in mid ways smells like anything” adds Joshua. He also says that sometimes you will not even find water in these toilets.

Today, the needs of toilets are increasing because of increase in population day by day. Apart from other major public issues, the problem of public toilet is great matter of concern so the government has also started looking into these issues. There are public toilets in many cities of India but in some cities, the numbers of toilets are not sufficient according to the present population status.

The west Bengal government said recently that Kolkata is going to get India’s first two-story public lavatories where ground floor will be for ladies and the first and second floors for Gents. Presently it has 225 public toilets and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will build 170 more toilets. Each toilet will cost Rs 18 lakh where 17 lakh will be contributed by central government.

As per the report in Delhi, there are 3,712 public toilets for men and 269 for women in 10 out of 12 zones of city. Activists say that the lack of toilets for women is a serious problem, not just in cities but also in rural areas. Women are unsafe and using these lavatories is so risky for them that even rapes and other violence also takes place.

The number of toilets in Nagpur is 128 which include 60 pay-and-use toilets maintained by Sulabh International. Most of the urinals installed by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) in several zones are in worst condition.

Vivek roshan, A Bihar police staff says that they always have to travel for duty in different locations of the state so everywhere there is need of toilets. “I usually don’t prefer to urinate anywhere in open because toilets are basic need of life and it should be made in each and every public place” adds Vivek.

Today, public toilet is not only important for the people to get the facility but it is also a place of women security where not only the need of toilet can be fulfilled but at the same time safety of individuals can also be achieved.

Get ready to collect rain water this monsoon

Many of us had ever tried keeping bucket in terrace for the rain water to fill in our childhood days. Do you have ever seen well in anyone’s house premises? It is the traditional way of storing rain water in almost every house in India. The most important aspect of well was that it was used for all the purpose which includes drinking to washing. It may be surprising to listen about it in terms of hygiene but believe it or not it was considered good for all purpose.

Those days are gone when we were not facing as much water issues as we are finding it today. We all know that there is something called ‘water crises’ which we are all familiar with. But do everyone really aware of water problems? In our daily life, many times we hear our parents telling us not to waste water, how many of us has this habit of using minimum water for our maximum uses?

There are simply many questions which may strike to our mind but what are the answers to these problems is again a big question?  Eighty-five per cent of India’s city population has access to drinking water while only 20 per cent of the drinking water is healthy to consume. If the misuse and ignorance with ground water carry on, then as per the Estimations of the Central Ground Water Board, the underground water will go dry entirely by 2025 in near about fifteen States of India. 

 There are many simple ways to start rain water harvesting which will not only help in saving water but can also lead to environmental revolution. There are several methods in which each and every individual can put their small effort to get rid of this major problem of water.

Rain water harvesting is an artificial way of collecting water only when rain occurs. It can be collected from roof top, lakes, tanks etc.

Roof top: In this type of water storage system, tanks are attached through pipes near the roofs of houses so that all the water fall on roof can easily get collected in the big tanks. The tanks of water usually exist in the terrace and directly connected to all the taps of house through pipes. Even these water tanks can also be connected to roof then water can be collected not only in the harvesting tanks but the terrace tanks as well.

Lake: lakes are both natural and artificial. Artificial lake is area filled with water which has lands on sides. The construction of lake is done for agricultural and industrial use. The rain water directly falls on the lakes and the level of water rises as the rain falls on it.

Tanks: tanks are the most common water storage system of present scenario. It is the storage system of water in big tanks either on the terrace or on the ground so that rain water can be collected into it.

The benefits of rain water harvesting:

The stored water can be used in summers for all the basic household as well as industrial purpose. The collected water can be used to recharge the bore wells through pipes connected to both tanks as well as bore well. This will help underground water to not to go dry. One do not has to depend on the water supply timings. The stored water can be used anytime. It also used to water the plants so that good amount of water can be directly used for many big and small purposes. These days government takes water charges for giving water service to their homes, industries etc. if you have your own water storing system, the water bill may reduce.

In Indian, good amount of rainfall occurs every year but on the other hand many rivers and reservoirs are drying up and getting polluted from industrial and other waste. So due to lack of proper public water storage systems, the major water crises are taking place.

There are several video clips made to create water awareness among the citizens of India like bacha bacha ke, barso re, rain drops are falling, tera mera mat kar.

If we talk about conserving water and the recharge of ground water, In February 2009 the government of Karnataka made it compulsory for all the buildings to make arrangement for rain water harvesting.it included residential sites, which has an area of more than 2400 sq ft (40 x 60 ft) should create this plan as per law.

Vishal, a BBM student says that he has studied a lot about environmental problems in school days. “There was a time when I used to study EVS in class six but now I felt about the real need of protecting ourselves by saving each and every drop of water” adds Vishal. 

A student from Bangalore, Kiran feels that wasting water is like wasting money. “Whenever I see water flowing here and there without any reason, I feel too bad when I cannot do anything to save that water”.

 Even if the government is not able to help in rain water harvesting, student’s contribution can lead to a great matter of inspiration not only for their family but also for reforming society as well. It also leads people to make them aware of saving water by different traditional as well as modern methods in their households. Once it will start working, many relatives, friends as well as neighbours will keen to know about the system and by this way it can be one of effective process in saving water.